


Fire on fire (would normally kill us)

by crystals__99



Category: Legacies (TV 2018), The Hunger Games (Movies), The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Hosie, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:54:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 29
Words: 71,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24094648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystals__99/pseuds/crystals__99
Summary: Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. I guess I wouldn’t mind dying, but dying means losing the ones I love. -Hope
Relationships: Freya Mikaelson & Hope Mikaelson, Hope Mikaelson/Finnick Odair, Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson/Lizzie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson/Niklaus Elijah Mikaelson, Landon Kirby/Hope Mikaelson
Comments: 149
Kudos: 537





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I know, I’m here again. I’m sorry. Do I have better things to do? Yes. And I still do it trust me 😂 But hey, I have new ideas. I’m rewatching the hunger games saga and I got inspired. I really hope I won’t fuck this up. 
> 
> Many things are the same, others are similar but fit in the story differently. I might change it a bit in the process. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the first chapter. :)

The lights flicker on. Hope bats her eyes at the sudden light, trying to adjust her eyes to it. She turns to the other side of the bed but finds the spot next to her empty. 

She looks up to the other side of the room to see her cousin Nik curled in her aunt’s arms, both of them still sound asleep. She lets out a small smile and after a few seconds decides to get up.

She is only in her underwear, so she puts on her usual hunting clothes. It’s not like there was that much of a fashion choice in the District. 

When she was finally ready, she walked by Nik and Freya’s bed and leaned over to leave a soft kiss on Nik’s head. She thought he looked so peaceful. His curly blond hair seemed to shine brighter thanks to the light entering the room from the small kitchen window. 

She loved that kid. She raised him just as much as her aunts did. He was all grown up now but Hope could still see that small child that cried for hours when he was five and he had lost his little bird friend. 

Since then Hope swore she would make sure he would never suffer from anything. She knew what loss felt like, and she didn’t want him to ever carry that feeling. Even if it was just a little bird.

She whispered something to him even though she knew he was asleep. “I’ll be right back.” She did it mostly for herself. Like she needed to tell him she was coming back. She always made sure that he knew that. 

She picks up her archery set and leaves.

She walks to the hill. The sky is clear and the place is silent, except for the birds singing. She slips underneath the fence and walks for a while until she finds Landon sitting on the grass. She smiles and then sits next to him.

“Hey Hope, look what I shot.”

He holds up a loaf of bread with an arrow stuck through it for Hope to see. She laughs. Hope then takes the bread from Landon’s hands and pulls out the arrow.

“It’s still warm. What did it cost you?”

“Just a squirrel. Think the old man  
was feeling sentimental this morning. Even wished me luck.”

“Well, we all feel a little closer today, don’t we?”

Landon‘s lips curved in a smile that seemed sad at first, but then he cheered up all of the sudden.

“I almost forgot. Happy Hunger Games. And may the odds-“

“-Be ever in your favor!” she finished for him.

They laugh. Then they go quiet again and keep eating. That is until Landon breaks the silence.

“We could do it, you know.” 

“Do what?”

“Leave the district. Run off. Live  
in the woods. You and I, we could do it..if we didn’t have so many kids around to take care of.”

Hope thought about her cousin Niklaus.

“I never want to have kids. This world would suck too much for them. Nik and my aunts are enough. How about you?”

“I might, if I didn’t live here.”

“But you do.”

He stays quiet for a while, then he throws a rock ahead of him and sighs in frustration. “This is so stupid.”

“I know. But it is what it is.”

“Apparently only they have the right to live. We can all kill each other and die for all they care. All for their entertainment. This is so wrong. So fucked up.”

“I know.” She sighs and stays quiet. She looks at the horizon and keeps eating. 

There was no point in arguing or even talk about it. The reaping was coming and there was nothing they could do to avoid it.

After they were done eating, they leave to go hunting in the woods.

Hope enters her house to find that Nik and her aunts Freya and Keelin are ready to go to the reaping, tidied up and neat. Nik runs to Hope, hugging her. He’s breaking down. 

“Hope, I don’t want to go. I don’t want to go.”

Hope holds him tight to her chest. “Shhh, it’s okay. You‘ll be safe. The odds you get picked are very low.”

“But what if you get picked? I don’t want you to go..”

“I’m sure both of us are safe. I  
mean, look at Landon. He has 42. My entries don’t come close to his.”

She kneels down to him until their eyes are at the same level. She wipes off the tears off his cheeks. 

“Now, when I come back, I want to see a smile. Okay?” She smiles to reassure him.

He nods. She gives him a kiss and then Hope leaves to get ready.

After she had cleaned up herself a bit, she comes back to her bed with only a towel around her body. She sees the nice dress her aunt had prepared for her. It was a simple light red dress. She put it on and her aunt helped her fixing her hair, pulling them up in a high ponytail, leaving just a few strands of hair falling to the side of her face. 

“So?” Hope asks her wanting to know how she looks. Freya smiled.

“See for yourself.”

Hope stood in front of the mirror and stared at her reflection for a moment. She felt tense. It was scary, no one could say it wasn’t. But she was trying to keep it together for Nik. 

“You look so pretty.” Nik says staring at her from the bed. Hope smiles widely and walks over to him, kneeling down to take a better look at him.

“You still have puffy eyes. I said no more crying. Only smiles.”

“I know but..I’m scared.”

“Do you want me to cut your beautiful curls right now?”

“No! Don’t touch my hair.” He takes his hands to his head holding it as to protect himself. Hope laughed.

“Then no crying. You’ll be okay, I swear. But you have to be brave. Okay?” 

“Okay.”

When they arrive the whole town is there. Hope could see the mayor and a woman next to him waiting for everyone to take their places. When everyone did, the Mayor stepped forward to the microphone and started talking.

“Welcome, citizens of Panem. Welcome  
to District 12’s reaping of the 74th annual Hunger Games. As you may know, disaster struck what used to be North America, and what rose from the ashes came the new land of Panem. Panem was a shining capitol ringed by thirteen districts, each contributing to one type of work in the majority. That is, until the Dark Days. The districts began rebelling against the capitol which obviously resulted into the unfortunate event of a total civil war breaking out. And yet, the capitol predictably took the title of “winner” by taking total destruction seriously and erasing District 13’s civilization forever. Now, the Hunger Games was the result of this happening and must go on. In the event of the uprising, each of the twelve districts must offer two tributes to participate in the Hunger Games, and must strictly be the ages of 12 through 18.  
The contestants will be put into an outdoor arena where they must survive all types of danger and fight to the death, or leave it up to nature. The last tribute standing wins. Now..please welcome Katherine Pierce from the Capitol!”

Katherine walks rather secure of herself up to the microphone. She has a wicked smile that Hope would like to rip off of her face. She couldn’t imagine how amusing this could be for anyone.

“Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor! Boys first!”

In the audience, Landon and Hope lock eyes from afar. They turn away as Katherine crosses to the boy’s glass ball filled with the names and shakes it. 

She pulls out a name, and walks back to the microphone, opens the slip up, and reads it in her head before saying it aloud.

“Niklaus Elijah Mikaelson.”

There are a few murmurs that Hope can’t even hear after the last three words Katherine had just pronounced. She could only feel the growing whistle of a teapot starting to boil in her ears. Her lips were open in shock and her breathing started to fasten frantically. 

She suddenly raised her eyes to see Niklaus walking between the guards to the podium. Hope started walking without even thinking about the consequences. She just had to stop this. She couldn’t let Nik do this. She couldn’t lose him.

“Nik! Nik!” 

She runs to him trying to go past the guards and he turns around as soon as he catches her voice.

“Hope!” He tries to run to her but the guards hold him back too. 

“No! I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute.” 

“That’s lovely honey. But you’re a girl. If you want to volunteer, fine. But the boy comes anyway. Come on.” She gestures to Nik.

“No..no. I take his place. Please, he’s a child! He can’t do this!”

At that point Hope loses control and manages to go past the guards and to Nik under the unhappy look of Katherine and the Mayor.

“You’re not taking him anywhere.” She says now angrier than ever. 

Katherine and the Mayor shared an understanding look. They probably already knew what to do next. 

“Fine. I can’t help but notice that no man dared to step forward to save the poor child. How..cowards you all must be, huh?” She laughs. “Maybe this year we could try something..different, for District 12.” 

Katherine walks to the girl’s glass ball and picks up a name. She first looks at the crowd ahead of her, then smiles and talks to the microphone again. 

“Let’s pair two girls this year. Maybe we can show these men what being fearless means.” She clears her throat. First reads for herself, then to everyone. “Josette Saltzman.” 

Hope kneels down to Nik and cups his face in her hands. “Nik. Listen to me. Go to your mom, okay? Just go.” He nods and runs away and Hope is honestly relieved she didn’t have to fight to make him go. 

She lets out a small breath and walks to the podium at the same time as the other girl does. Both of them stood by Katherine’s sides and were facing the crowd.

“Well, that was very brave of you. What’s your name?” Katherine asks.

It takes a moment for Hope to gather her thoughts and be able to speak. She was feeling so overwhelmed that it was difficult to even put two and two together. 

“Hope Mikaelson.” She finally said.

“Well then. Let’s give a big round of applause to our newest tribute!”

But everyone keeps quiet, no one moves. Only Katherine claps her hands. Only then Hope takes the time to look at the girl who was on the other side of the podium. Their eyes meet for a moment. 

_Hope remembered the time she was having a fight with a girl from the district. The girl had hurt Hope very badly because she had caught her sneaking behind her house, thinking she was a thief._

_Hope was laying down the road while the rain was pouring down and no one seemed to be there to notice her. She had a deep cut on her right leg and the blood was dripping quickly.  
She was fighting the pain and trying to get up in vain... _

“Now, shake hands girls.” Katherine tells them.

Hope leans her hand to Josette and shakes it. Their hands stay like that for a moment before Josette breaks the contact, looking almost as worried as Hope.

Hope couldn’t deny this was scary for her too. But she had to stay strong and be tough, because that’s what she needed to survive. 

The anthem of Panem plays as Hope and Josette turn to face the audience. They are taken away by the Peacekeepers. They surround the two girls in a circle as they walk. They march out of the town square.

Then they push Hope into a room. She examines the room quickly before Nik and her aunts storm into the room. 

Hope’s face lights up seeing them and she’s suddenly brought into a group hug. 

“Listen. You three have to stay strong, okay? It doesn’t matter what happens or what you see, you don’t worry about me. Okay?”

“How can we not worry about you, Hope?” Freya said with tears in her eyes. 

Hope bites her cheek trying to fight the tears and forces a smile. “Just take care of each other. Don’t ever leave him alone. Just..just don’t leave him. Please.” 

It was all she could think about. She didn’t want Nik to feel alone or abandoned. She didn’t want to feel like Hope felt when both of her parents died in that fire that burned down their house years ago. 

He had to be okay. She needed him to be. 

“We won’t Hope. I promise.” Freya said.  
“Yeah, of course we won’t.” Keelin adds while crying silently. 

Hope kneels down to look at Nik and runs her fingers through his beautiful curls. She smiles softly while Nik hands her something. She looks down to her hand to see a necklace. It was the one that belonged to her family. Her aunt Rebekah gave it to her when she was little. She looked at the letter M engraved and then back at Nik.

“You’re a Mikaelson, Hope. You will come back to us, I know you will.”

At that point Hope was officially crying. She smiled at him and held him close to her chest. 

“I hope you’re right.” She whispers while sobbing.

“Time’s up.” A peacekeeper storms into the room and Hope says one last goodbye before they disappear behind the door. 

But before she can even have time to breathe, the door opens again revealing Landon. She jumps into his arms and lets out a deep breath.

“Listen, Hope. You have to get your hands on some weapon, okay? Try to take the bow. You will be safe with that.”

“I don’t know...”

“If you don’t find it then make one. You’re a survivor. You can survive anything, Hope Mikaelson. If they hunt you, you hunt them back.”

“Landon, there are people, not animals..”

“Believe me, Hope. When they will look at you, they won’t see you as a person. You’ll know that when the time comes.”

Hope smiles sadly and then caressed his face. “Please be safe. Don’t do stupid things.” 

“I won’t. I need you for that.”

She chuckled and then hugged him again. But the time was up again and Landon was gone too. 

And she was alone.


	2. Chapter 2

After not so long the Peacekeepers guided both Hope and Josette to the train that would take them to the Capitol.

As they are in, Hope walks ahead without waiting for Josie, looking around her to examine the the place. 

While she looks outside the window train, her mind goes back to the same thought she had while she was standing on the podium. 

_She had her back pressed against the tree just across the house where she was attacked. She was holding her leg to her chest when she raised her eyes and saw a brunette girl standing on the front porch of the same house._

_She was looking at Hope with her arms crossed on her chest. It was Josette. Her face seemed unbothered to Hope, meanwhile she was breathing heavily and trying to hide the pain._

Her thoughts were interrupted by Katherine and Josette who walked in the wagon train. 

“There she is. Now stay here, both of you. I’m going to find Damon.” 

The sliding door opened and closed again in two seconds. Hope and Josette were sitting next to each other but none of them dared to talk or even look at each other. 

Hope didn’t think it was worth the effort, to be honest. She didn’t care about bonding, if they would try to kill each other eventually. 

But against her expectations, Josette started talking to her. 

“Do you know him? Damon?” 

Hope kept quiet. 

“He’s our mentor now. He won this thing once.” 

Hope was still silent. 

Josie stared at her for a moment, but Hope didn’t look back, although she could feel the brunette’s gaze on her. 

“Look, I get it. You probably hate me and my family, but if we’re doing this now, we have to help each other.” 

Just then Hope turned her attention to her and met the brunette’s pleading gaze. “Help each other?” She repeated almost sarcastically.

She thought about that episode again. The girl was just looking at her from afar. Hope was bleeding out on the side of the road, and she did nothing but watch.

Hope thought she must have hurt her with her irony, since the brunette turned her gaze away. 

But before one of them could say anything, Damon came in, staggering with a bottle of bourbon in his hand. 

He sat down in front of the two girls and raised his eyes to take a look at them. His eyes were small. Probably he had been sleeping and drinking all together. He blinked more than twice to make sure he was seeing this right.

“Katherine...these are two gurls.” He mumbled. 

“I can see that. We called an exception for District 12 this year.”

“Oh well, wonderful.” He took a sip of bourbon from the bottle under the uncertain gaze of the two girls. 

Hope thought they were totally going to die. 

“So, when do we start?” Josette asked.

“Woah, woah. Easy there. I just woke up and I’m not even sober yet.”

“You won’t be if you keep drinking.” Josette pointed out with a snarky comment. 

Hope raised her eyebrow in surprise for the girl’s insolence and waited for Damon to say something.

“So I take you’re the brain.” He pointed at her. And then he looked at Hope. “And you’re the fighter.” 

He cleared his throat and spoke again. “The only thing I feel like you should do, is for you to start embracing the possibility of your imminent death.” 

“I think I’m already past that.” Hope answered. 

Now she was the insolent one. Damn. But luckily Damon didn’t seem to mind for matters. Instead he giggles and gets up, starting to walk out of the wagon.

“Come. Food is here.” He warns them.

Both girls get up and follow him and Katherine in the other wagon where a large table is set with fancy towels and a buffet of food. 

Hope could swear she had never seen that much food before then. She sits down next to Josette and faces Damon. 

“So..your names..?” He asks.

“Hope.”

“I’m Josette. Josie.” 

“Great. Now, hit me.” He says while he chews food.

“You mean literally?”

Josie turns her gaze to Hope as to tell her to stop, but Hope doesn’t look at her. Instead Damon does and starts laughing.

“Lesson number one: you won’t survive if you keep talking like that, sweetheart.” 

“Why is that?” 

“You know what’s the first important thing in order to survive?” He paused. “You get people to like you.” He swallows. “And you two, with your snarky comments and poking, won’t have much to live. People want..to be entertained. They want to see bravery. And charm.”

“We’re not doing spectacle. We’re going there to kill each other.” Josie points out.

“True. But...if you want to have a chance more than others, you need sponsors. Meaning, you two have to get people to like you.” 

Hope wasn’t paying attention anymore. She stood up and walked to the window, seeing the first glimpse of the Capitol.

“We’re here.” She whispered.

Suddenly it was dark, then there was light again and a crowd of people from the city, all dressed with suits and dresses. All wearing makeup and with fancy hair. They were cheering at them. 

Hope just kept staring outside, unable to understand how these people could find all of this fun or worth cheering for. There was nothing good about what was going to happen. Absolutely nothing.

“One last thing. When we’re there, you’ll be in the hands of your stylists. You’re not going to like what they do to you, but just let them do it.” 

Venia, Hope’s assistant groomer from the Capitol, is waxing her legs. She is naked, except for underwear, a bra, and a tank top. Just as Katherine, she speaks in the standard Capitol accent.

Venia rips the fabric from Hope’s legs and she grunts in pain.

“Sorry!” 

Hope rolls her eyes and presses her lips together. Venia take a liquidy lotion and rubs it onto Hope. Hope scrunches her face in pain, then relaxes. 

“We’re done, don’t worry. We’ll call Marcel for you. He’s our lead prepper and designer.”

Marcel is a young man from the far side of the Capitol. He wears normal clothing- a black shirt, black pants. The only "capitol" trace of him is the light metallic gold eyeliner and the slight accent.

When Hope arrives to the room he was already there waiting for her, he greets her with a smile. 

“Hello, Hope. I’m your stylist, Marcel. Is everything alright?”

She just nods. Actually it’s not, but whatever.

“So, Hope, about your costume for  
the opening ceremonies. My partner, Valerie, is the stylist for your fellow tribute, Josette. And our current thought is to dress you in complementary costumes. But we also want add something that can make them notice you two more than others.”

“Okay...how are you going to do that?” 

“We want people to like you, cheer for you, right? So what we thought, is an element of surprise. Now, are you afraid of fire?”

 _Fire?_ Really? Hope’s breath got stuck in her throat for a moment. Was she supposed to touch fire? She can’t do that. That was just too much.

She didn’t even notice she had spaced out until Marcel called her name again.

“Hope? Are you okay?” 

“Yeah I..can’t we use another element of surprise?”

“Well..your partner has kind of already agreed to this. We were hoping you would too.” 

“She’s not my partner.” She bursts out in annoyance.

Marcel nods in understanding. “Okay. But are we good about the dress?”

Hope wanted to cry. She just wanted to break down and cry but she couldn’t. Not there, not now. Not ever. She couldn’t allow herself to break or she would be digging her own grave. 

“Yes.” 

She just had to go through with it. 

Later that night, they are at the opening ceremony building. Hope wears a plain black unitard with a fire-resembling cape and headband/tiara to match. Josie’s outfit matches Hope’s.

They walk to their chariot, in the far back of the line of chariots. Each chariot is custom designed to resemble the district it’s for. In front of them there is a street in which the chariots will ride through for the people to see. In the streets, they could hear the people cheering for the tributes. 

Hope and Josie stand on their chariot waiting for the horse to start walking. They don’t talk. But Hope can feel Josie is as nervous as her. The last thing she knows, she is talking to her and calling her by her short name.

“Josie?” 

Josie turns her head almost shocked to hear Hope talking to her. She has her eyes wide open. Hope stares at her for a moment, then sighs.

“If I really get on fire, just rip this thing off. Okay?”

“O..okay. Okay.” Josie’s cheeks flushed. 

Hope wondered why her cheeks went suddenly red, but she was so focused on her breathing that immediately let the thought go and focused on the ceremony.

Music starts. The chariots are all ready to go. Claudius, the annuncer, speaks from outside, the stage.

“And now, for our 74th annual Hunger  
Games opening ceremonies, we give you... the tributes!” 

All the chariots starts riding in line together. One after the other.

When the announcer finally says the number of their district, they both know it’s time for the show. Their dresses go on fire and Hope tries badly not to look at herself and try to keep the attention on the public. 

Josie must notice Hope’s discomfort because she suddenly slips her hand into Hope’s, which makes Hope hold back in an unexpected way. But Josie looks at her. Her expression seems kind.

“It’s okay. It’s fake fire.” 

At that point Hope allows Josie to take her hand and next thing she does is raise their arms with their hands intertwined in the air. The audience loves it. Both of them let out a small smile.

When they arrive at the end of the street, the President is there to greet the tributes. Hope knew him very well. Everyone did.

“Good evening, Capitol City. And to you, tributes.” He smiled while the crowd cheered. “I’m President Mikael Mikaelson. Welcome, to the 74th annual Hunger Games. And may the odds be ever in your favor.” 

Hope hated that man. She can’t believe the fact that he was actually related to her and he pretended like she didn’t even exist. As if he didn’t kill her family because he considered them traitors.

Hope was spared because Freya, the only daughter he loved, begged him to let her live. She raised Hope all alone since she was 7, along with Keelin. There was also Nik, who at the time was already two. 

For everyone in the Capitol it seemed normal to see the niece of the President go to the slaughter. It was like it didn’t even matter.

Hope came out of her thoughts when their chariot finally joins everyone else at the boarding dock yet again. The viewing has ended. The other tributes shoot dirty glances her way as they leave but neither Josie or Hope seem to feel threatened. 

Marcel walked up to them with a big smile.  
“You two crushed them all. The sponsors will be all yours, I’m sure.”

Hope hadn’t noticed that she was still holding Josie’s hand until Josie made her realize it. 

“Hope? It’s done. You can..leave my hand now.” She said almost embarrassed.

This time Hope’s cheeks flushed red. She instantly let Josie’s hand go. 

“Sorry.”

Josie just smiled and nodded lightly. After that, they joined Damon and Katherine again to go to their room. 

They had their first training the next day and Hope couldn’t sleep. She slid in her bed and played with the remote that could make the walls change into various landscapes. She changed a few until she felt peaceful enough with a night sky full of stars. She breathed out and closed her eyes.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. She raised her head from the pillow to take a look and found Josie standing at her door. She walked in nervously.

“Can’t sleep?” Josie asked.

“Not really. I thought this might help, but..” She throws the remote on her side and sighs.

“Want to see a real starry sky?” 

Hope thought about it for a moment. She didn’t know what Josie meant but if she couldn’t sleep, she might as well not be alone where her thoughts could hurt her. 

She followed Josie on the top of the roof and they sat there silently for a while. The air was chilly but they both had a blanket around them, so it felt nice. 

“How did you know about this place?”

“Damon showed me. I asked him if we could escape from up here. Or you know...” Take your life, she meant to say.  
“He said you can’t. There’s an electrical field.”

“Nice.” Hope said. 

“Are you scared?” 

Hope glanced at Josie for a moment. For the first time she really looked at her. Until now she just avoided her, mostly because of what happened in the past, but also because even though they were partners now, they would become enemies in the games. 

“Not really. I’m just..embracing the idea of my imminent death.” She quoted Damon. Josie chuckled lightly. It was nice to hear.

“Do you actually listen to a word he says?”

“I wouldn’t. But we kind of need him, I guess.”

“Except he can’t actually be helpful while we’re in there.” 

“We’re on our own anyway. So..”

Josie pressed her lips together and then looked back at Hope. “I can show you how to hide, if you want.” 

Hope sighed. “We don’t need to do this Josie, you know.”

“Do what?”

“Talk. Bonding. Or whatever this is.”

“So you’re saying you don’t want us to help each other in there? You’re just..what? Going to kill me?”

Hope didn’t answer that. Of course she wouldn’t just try to kill her. She doesn’t even know if she will be able to kill anyone really. It was too scary and horrible to think about. 

After a while, Josie just figured Hope wasn’t going to say anything. So she left. 

Hope was left alone on the roof. The air seemed to feel colder now on her skin and the blanket wasn’t helping to keep her warm. 

Weird thing is, she had been fine just until a few minutes before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You will soon know why Hope is so afraid of fire :) In the meantime you’re free to guess. I thought Mikael as President Snow would be a good choice to create conflict between him and Hope especially considering the other movies.  
> I also think that I’ll be mentioning the names of many of the characters from the tvdu though..even for just a small appearance. 
> 
> Let me know what you think about it and feel free to leave comments. <33


	3. Chapter 3

The elevator opens and Hope, Josie and Damon step into a room with a banner that reads: District 12.

“If you prefer, I can coach you both separately.”

“Why?” Hope asked genuinely confused.

“Maybe you have a secret skill you don’t want the other to know about.” 

“No. You can teach us together.” Hope said sounding sure.

Josie frowns. She believed the girl didn’t want any help, therefore it was weird for her to want to train together.

“Fine. So you said you’re good with bow and arrows, right?” 

“Yes.”

“What about you Josie?” 

“I can..light the fire? I’m also good at hiding.”

Damon was thoughtful for a moment. “All right. Just play with the knives a little. See what you can do.”

She nodded. Apart from her craftiness and being able to start a fire, she figured that she had at least to know how to use a weapon. 

When they were finally in the room with all the other tributes, it was the first time both of them actually felt scared. 

Everyone were looking at them as if they were prey.

Hope figured those stares were mostly directed at her considering the fact that she was related to the President. Going for her would be like getting the satisfaction of taking down a Mikaelson. And Hope knew that could easily happen.

Both her and Josie still tried to ignore the stares and focus on their training. 

Josie showed Hope how to light a fire in a special spot of the room where fake woods was set up. Then Josie showed her how to draw wood and grass on her arms and face, so that she could camouflage herself. 

After that Hope tried to center the heart of a few dummies with her bow and arrows. She managed to take out all five of them. 

The other tributes looked at her in rage. She was quiet but dangerous, they knew that now.

Josie was smiling instead, seeing the others feeling threatened by Hope. She knew she should feel too, but she couldn’t. 

Hope went to her and whispered a few inches from her face. “Use the axe.” 

“What? Right now? What if I hurt someone?”

“Then they will know what they’re up against. Go make an impression.”

Josie kept staring at her with her lips half open. Hope just kept staring back. 

“Fine.” 

Josie took the axe in her hands and positioned herself in the center of the room. She charged her energy on her arms while she was holding the axe in order to hit the target a few feet afar from her. 

She twisted her hips a bit and threw the axe, sticking it very deep right through the chest of the target. Josie was impressed by herself, while everyone else was even angrier than after watching Hope.

Meanwhile Hope was the one smiling this time. And Josie turned to look at her just in time to see it. She smiled back and released breath, letting go the tension.

Hope suddenly feels other eyes on her and she notices a short boy watching her from behind the pillar. He had to be no more than 13. Hope smiled at him but her thoughts went to her cousin Nik all of the sudden. Her smile dropped.

“I think his name is Pedro.” Josie said approaching Hope.

Hope bites her lip and her eyes become filled with sadness. Josie noticed.

“I know, it’s not fair.” 

“No, it’s not.” 

“Come on. We have to start the single tests in a while. We better go.” Josie said.

Hope just followed her and went to the waiting room where soon all the other tributes were, waiting for their turn to go into the Gamemakers judging room.

Josie went in before Hope and when she came out she didn’t seem upset, so Hope figured it must have gone well. 

It was her turn now. 

She walked into the room where all the Gamekeepers seemed to mind their own business, drinking, eating and talking. Hope figures they will pay attention to her if she speaks up.

“Hope Mikaelson. District 12.” She says out loud, catching everyone’s attention.  
But it lasts seconds.

Hope takes the bow and the arrows and gets ready to shoot the target, but she misses. She doesn’t let that affect her, so she tries again and shoots the arrow right to the middle. And then again, more and again. She takes out the next three perfectly.

When she turns around she sees no one paying attention to her. She feels anger rise all of the sudden, so she positions her bow and arrow ready to shoot and points at the napkin that one of the men is waving in the air. When she’s confident enough, she makes a clear shot and the napkin is sticked into the point of the arrow up the wall.

Everyone turns around to look at her at that point. Each one of them astonished.

“Thank you for your consideration.” 

And she walks out.

Later that night at dinner Katherine is shouting at her for being so insolent and reckless with the Gamemakers. 

“She did great Katherine. Leave her be.” Marcel said.

Josie was sitting at the table too but kept silent. In that same moment Damon walked into the room and looked at Hope, giving her thumbs up and smiling proud.

Hope smiled back. 

“You were brilliant.”

“She was stupid!” Katherine yells.

“Shut up. What did they say to you after you did that?”

“Nothing. They seemed...surprised? Scared?”

“All together sweetheart. All together.” 

She smiled again. But then went serious again. “Will they punish me? Or do something to family?”

“Nah they won’t. They can’t let anything out of what happens there. But they might make your life in the arena a living hell.”

“I thought this already was.” 

“Well, maybe they deserved it after all.” Katherine said. 

While Katherine, Damon and Marcel were lost in their conversation Hope glanced at Josie who had her eyes fixed on her plate. She seemed thoughtful. 

“How did you do?” Hope asked her with a soft voice.

Josie suddenly raised her gaze and met Hope’s sweet blue eyes. It was kind of distracting for her. “Um..They didn’t really pay attention.” 

“I’m sure you did good.” 

Josie smiles weakly as Hope does the same.

“Hurry! They’re showing the score of your performance!” Katherine said.

Everyone gets up and sits on the couch. They see everyone’s scores until it’s their turn.

“District 12. Josie Saltzman: 8. Hope Mikaelson: 11.” 

Everyone cheers and congratulates to both of them.

Marcel goes to hug Hope. “See? You were so scared of that fire, but you had it in you.”

Hope smiled widely. “Thank you Marcel.”

“I’m really proud of you, Mikaelson.” Damon whispers to her. 

As they all get distracted again with eating and drinking, Hope wants to talk to Josie but she’s nowhere to be seen. Hope frowns and thinks that maybe she must have gone to bed. Not wanting to bother her, she decides to let it go.

The next day Hope walks into the living room hearing voices arguing about something. She squeezes her eyes and catches Damon and Katherine at the table, now silently staring at her.

“What’s wrong? Where is Josie?” 

“Change of plans. Josie will be coached separately.” Damon said.

“What? Why?” Hope asked genuinely confused.

“It happens. It’s best for your enemy not to know your secret skills.” 

“But I don’t have one.”

“I bet you can be pretty resourceful.” 

“But so can she!” She said a little too loud. She didn’t even know why she was reacting this way. It was stupid. 

Josie did the right thing. She did the exact thing Hope planned to do from the start. No bonding. No friendship or alliance. It would be pointless. 

“All right. Let’s calm down. Now you have to prepare for tonight.” Katherine said.

“What’s tonight?” 

“The tributes interviews. And you have to try and be nice. Katherine will deal with Josie too.” Damon said.

“Nice how?”

“Well, Marcel will take care of your look. Meanwhile you have to learn how to be charming.”

“Excuse me?”

“You need people to like you, Hope.” He said almost in exasperation. 

“Will ‘be charming’ help me survive the games? I think not.”

“Hope, they will want to know about you and you have to get them to like you. I don’t know if you have a sad past or a long lost love, just please say something they will like.”

“As if they don’t know enough already.”

“I know. But you also know that they will just ignore who you’re related to. It’s been like this forever. Just tell them something else.”

Her anger started to rise. Sometimes she did that and couldn’t help but snap at people. She took that from her father.

She tries to control herself. 

Hope sighs while Damon takes a sip of his drink and then rests his head in his hand. 

Hope walks out of the room and towards the hallway and unexpectedly bumps into Josie. Hope’s look is surprised and hurt at the same time. Josie tried to avoid her gaze instead.

“Why did you ask him to coach you separately?” Hope bursted out. 

“Because I saw your score. And I don’t stand a chance against anyone, let alone you, so I better train alone.”

“Josie, you scored eight. That is good.” She tried to make her reason.

“Not good enough.” 

Hope stayed silent. Then Josie spoke again. 

“Then it was you who said we didn’t have to do this, right? We’re not allies. Not even partners. We’re already rivals.” 

Hope didn’t know that hearing that from the brunette could be so disappointing. But Josie was also right. They were rivals. They had to make peace with it. 

Hope pressed her lips together and put on a though face. “That’s true. Then you did the right thing.” 

She bumps into the brunette’s shoulder to walk past her and goes into her room, leaving Josie standing there with a pained face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if it’s a bit short :/ Next chapter is interviews night...👀 
> 
> Leave a comment and let me know what you guys think <33


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had this chapter ready since i split it from previous one and I wanted to give you the interviews part so...👀
> 
> Let me know how you feel about it.

Hope stands in front of a body mirror. She looks at herself while Marcel keeps adjusting her dress. It was wonderful. Red was definitely her color. 

When Marcel was done he takes a look at her. “All done.” 

Hope makes a spin and then faces him. “You did a miracle. Thank you.”

“Oh Hope Mikaelson, I believe you are.” 

Hope smiles and then leaves a heavy breath. “I’m going to mess this up.”

“I hope you don’t mean the dress.” They both smile. Then Marcel rests his hands on Hope’s shoulders. “Just tell them what you feel like sharing. Remember you have to get people to like you. Or even pity you. I know..I know it’s not what you would ever want, but right now you need to do everything in your power to win their hearts.”

“I know. But I hate this.”

“I bet you do. But try, okay?”

Hope nods. Meanwhile she hears the interviewer calling her District. 

The moment she walks on stage, there’s an eruption of cheers from the audience.   
Caesar, the interviewer, stands onstage,  
waiting for her.

“There she is. Please welcome Hope Mikaelson of district twelve!” Caesar screams at the audience. The audience cheers loudly.

“So, Hope, it’s nice to finally  
meet you. The Capitol must be quite a change from district twelve. What has impressed you the most since you came here?” 

“The morning buffet for sure.” 

Everyone laugh, even Caesar. 

“I bet that is something new for you! Now, Hope, your dress during the ceremony was very impressive. The fire effect...how did you come up with that?” 

“Marcel thought about it. He’s really great at what he does. I guess we just wanted to get all the attention.” Hope smiled innocently, looking almost soft. 

She was giving them a ten score acting performance. 

“You certainly had our devoted attention! Am I right?” He turns to the audience who starts screaming loudly.

“You know Hope, you did a really nice thing for you little..Who is he? Your brother?” 

Hope’s heart ached at the thought of Nik. She missed him, but she still managed to force a smile. “He’s my cousin. But we grew up together. We’re very close.”

“You volunteered for him, so I believe the connection you two share must be strong.”

Hope‘s gaze lowers at the floor. “It is.” 

“What were the last words he said to you before coming here?”

“He said that he knew I would be back to him, because I’m a Mikaelson.” A tear fell down her cheeks, but this time she wasn’t acting. It was real. Thinking about Nik was overwhelming. 

“That is very touching, Hope. Isn’t it people?” Caesar asks the audience who starts clapping and cheering again to show support. Hope could feel it. It felt weird. 

“And our time is up. Thank you Hope Mikaelson for sharing yourself with us.” 

Hope smiled politely and walked out the stage. The first faces she saw was Damon’s and Marcel’s. 

“So? How did I do?”

“You stopped acting at some point.” Marcel smiled feeling proud of her. 

Hope smiles. Suddenly their moment is broken by Caesar talking to Josie. Hope didn’t even notice her going up on stage when she came down. 

She turned to face the screen fully and hear what they were saying.

“It’s nice to see you Josette. You look fantastic tonight.”

“Thank you Caesar. You should see the element of surprise.” Josie said smirking.

“What?! Again? Please show us!” 

Josie stood up and made a few spin while the bottom of her dress started to go on fire, but as soon as she stopped, the fire burnt out too. The audience cheered and Caesar kept looking at her with adoration.

“This girl is actual fire!” 

“I guess that’s just my favorite thing to play with.”

“Huh, did you hear that?!” Caesar laughs and the audience follows.

If Josie was acting, that was a hell of a performance, Hope thought.

“So, Josie. Can I call you Josie?”

“Of course.”

“Do you miss home? Your family?”

“Yeah I do. I have a twin sister back home, so it’s been hard.”

“I bet it must be for her too.” 

“Yeah.” Josie smiled weakly. Now she had stopped acting too. This was a touching matter.

“Anyone you left behind apart from your family? A boy?” 

“Not really.” 

“What do you mean? I don’t believe someone such beautiful as you didn’t win a heart.” 

Josie thought about it for a moment. If she should go there or just stop now. But somehow she kept talking.

“Thank you, but sadly no.”

“Oh but your face says something else. There is someone in your heart, isn’t there?”

“There was..or is, I guess. But..it’s not a boy.”

Caesar seemed now even more interested, as the audience was. 

“You can talk freely here Josie. We’re not judges. Is it a girl?” 

She didn’t know how this could be of help, but the damage was already done. 

“Yeah. I’ve had a crush on her since I was fourteen. I’m pretty sure she hated me back then though. Probably she still does.”

“You never told her?”

“No. Of course not.” That would be crazy, she thought. 

And yet...

“Well then you have a reason to win, so that when you go home, you can confess your love to her. How does that sound?” 

“I’d say impossible.” Josie chuckled lightly. Then she continued. “Because she’s here with me.” 

The audience bursted in a choir of “Ohh” and Caesar’s jaw dropped in amazement. 

“That’s a shame, Josie.”

‘Yeah, maybe.” 

“I hope that you can make peace with it.” 

She presses her lips together and lowers her head. 

“I’m sorry but our time is up. Please give all your love to Josie Saltzman!” 

The audience started clapping and roaring as to comfort her. Josie made a bow and then left the stage. 

When she came down the stage she didn’t even have time to breathe that Hope was already on her. She was holding her wrist tightly and pushing her against the wall. Her arm pressing aggressively on Josie’s stomach.

“What was that? Is that your plan?! You want to make me appear the bad one for hating you?! You want me to come for you? Fine! You’ll be the first one I’m going to kill.” 

Josie’s gaze was fixed on Hope’s in a pained expression. That was not what Josie meant to do with her confession. At all.

Damon rushes to hold Hope back so that Josie could breathe. 

“Stop it! She did you a favor! She didn’t make you look bad. This is an advantage both of you have. People will like to see your dynamic.”

“What are you talking about?! Do I hate her? Sure! But she said she has a crush on me! Why lie about that?!”

“Why do you think it was a lie?” Josie asked all of the sudden. Her voice sounded almost broken. She was emotional and overwhelmed and she just told her biggest secret in front of everyone in and outside the Capitol.

And Hope thought she made that up.

Hope stared at her with her mouth half open. Her expression suddenly softened, but she was still confused. It doesn’t make any sense for her. Josie hated her. Hope hated her. 

Before Hope could say something, Katherine and Damon dragged them out of there to take them home.

Hope was now in her pajamas but as most of the days in the past two weeks she wasn’t able to sleep. 

She wondered what Josie wanted to say with that. Why would she say something like that in a situation like this. 

They would be starting the games tomorrow. They could be both dead by tomorrow. Probably that was the reason. 

But Hope wanted Josie to explain it and she figured she wouldn’t have another chance if not now, so she got up and walked to the brunette’s room.

She knocked the door and Josie opened it after not long. She looked sad, Hope thought. 

“What are you doing here?” Josie asks.

“Can we talk for a moment?”

Josie only nods and lets her in. Josie goes to sit by the window where she was reading a book until before Hope knocked at her door. Hope sat on the other side.

“Do you need something?” Josie asks almost impatiently. She hated that silence.

“I have every reason to think that it was a lie.” 

Josie swallows hard and looks down at her hands. 

“Why?”

“You know why.” Hope said almost in a whisper. Then she went on. “You saw me, bleeding out, in pain. And you did nothing. Your sister had beaten me so hard that I couldn’t even walk. And all you did was stay on your porch, looking at me.” 

Hope didn’t know about Lizzie’s anger issues, but that was not an excuse for Josie not helping Hope when she needed. She knows she should’ve. 

“I didn’t want to do that. I..wanted to help you. But Lizzie...”

Hope nodded and shook her head. “Right. You couldn’t risk upsetting your sister.“

“It hurt me seeing you like that, Hope. Believe it or not.” She whispered. 

Hope’s heart did a small jump. 

She kept quiet for a while, lost in thought. Josie’s revelation was still surprising her.

“I thought you hated me all this time. And I..I guess I started hating you too just because you did.” Hope said. 

“You have an advantage then.” 

Hope frowns. She meets Josie’s sad eyes. 

“What’s that?” 

“It won’t be that hard for you if you have to kill me.” 

She seriously meant it. Hope couldn’t understand how she could think something like that. 

She hated her, sure. But probably she was even past that now. The moment Josie told about her crush, her hate for the brunette seemed to fade a bit. 

Now she regretted threatening her about lying and killing her. 

Despite everything, she could never think about killing Josie cold heartedly, not even for her own survival.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter the games begin 🔥


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning Hope was woken up with the feeling of death watching over her. For a moment she felt already defeated, thinking that she couldn’t stand a chance against the other tributes. Some of them looked like actual killers. 

After getting ready her and Damon walked together to the building that would give them access to the arena. 

They took the elevator and went underground. The place was silent and seemed to have strong foundations. They walked for a minute more until they reached another small room. 

There was a tube of glass where she would get in to enter the arena. She looked at it and held her breath for a moment. 

Damon could feel her anxiety, so he turned her around to face him.

“Once the timer hits zero, get the  
hell out of there. Okay? Do not risk it by jumping in the mess like idiots. Just get out, put as much distance as you can between you and the others, and find a source of water. Or a tree. You come back later to get a weapon.” 

“What if I can’t? How..”

“You can do this, Hope. You live in the woods. I believe you have the best chance of survival amongst everyone. Even Josie. Don’t tell her I said that.”

_Josie._

In that same moment Marcel walked into the room and suddenly Hope felt comforted just by his being there. She felt like he could see her. Like he understood her.

He placed two hands on Hope’s shoulders and smiled. “Stay alive.” 

Hope sighed. “You’re telling me to do the hardest thing.” 

“I can’t tell you to do an easy one. There’s nothing easy in there. But you have to keep going no matter what, Hope. Okay? Always.” 

She nods frantically. “Okay.” 

“Now go and come back, Mikaelson.” 

She smiled and her last thought before jumping into the tube was for Nik. She had to survive for him. That was the goal. 

When the tube closed she started to feel it rise and suddenly it was dark, but after a few moments, there was a strong light again. 

She adjusted her eyes to the sunlight and saw the other tributes all around her standing on the round pedestals. 

Her eyes caught Josie for a moment, but she was looking elsewhere. Hope prayed for a moment that she wouldn’t try to run towards the mountain of weapons and supplies that were in the middle of the arena.

Hope noticed the bow and arrows, but she wouldn’t risk it now. She had to be smart. 

As soon as the countdown stopped, everyone started running and Hope quickly run towards the woods to get out of the mess. 

She could see others trying to reach the weapons and others who were already armed and killing each other. 

Suddenly she stopped already out of breath, but mostly because she felt scared, and looked around her to watch in between the mess. She wondered where Josie was. If she was in the fray. 

She couldn’t see her though. And while she was distracted looking for the brunette, someone tried to throw a knife at her, but luckily she missed it. 

She quickly took the knife that fell a few feet away from her and started running again towards the woods. 

She runs. She runs for minutes to get as far away as possible from everyone. 

When she felt like she could finally take a break, she stopped and sat down on a rock to catch her breath. 

Her eyes were still wide open and guarding around her for precaution. Then she stopped for a moment to listen to the sounds around her. 

It was water running. 

She got up and walked through some bushes and found a small pool of water very well hidden. She drank as much as she could since she had to try and stay hydrated. 

After that she wandered for a while to find something that might be of use, because sure, she had a knife, but it wasn’t enough. And she couldn’t go back yet. Actually, she didn’t know if she even will.

Luckily she found a long wooden branch. She thought that if she sharpened both ends, it could be a good weapon. 

She remembered when her and Landon used to train on the hills with the long sticks. Luckily she knew some tricks.

After both ends were sharpened enough she kept walking, focusing her attention on the sounds around her. 

Suddenly she heard cannons shooting. Once. Two. Three. Four...

Eight people were already dead. Now there were sixteen left. 

The sun was going down, so she decided it was best to find shelter. She figured she could climb a tree and stay there for the night. 

When she woke up in the morning, she felt as if it was hard to breathe. She coughed and looked down the tree and then ahead of her and noticed that the woods were on fire. 

“Fuck.” 

She quickly jumped down the tree and started running faster than she had the day before. She hated fire. It brought back memories that had been haunting her for years. She was too scared and it was hard not to panic while trying to run away from it. 

She did though. She jumped in the first lake that came across her and suddenly she felt safe. She started breathing again. She closed her eyes for a moment and suddenly heard a voice talking to her.

“Not the place to take a bath, 12.” 

Hope jumped and opened her eyes to see a girl holding a bow and pointing an arrow at her. Hope believed she was from district 4. 

She shot the arrow but luckily Hope was quick enough to go underwater to miss it. The girl kept shooting in the water though, figuring she would hit her eventually and her body would come up to surface. 

She shot tree more, but Hope’s body never came up. The girl watched attentively the water. It seemed still. It didn’t make any sense for her. The read head had to be in there. How deep could that lake be? 

She kneeled down with a frown and suddenly she was grabbed by her neck and pulled down into the water. 

Hope was trying to pull her underwater but the girl kept fighting her. She tried to punch her more than once and even though the girl’s face started bleeding, she was still able to fight back. 

Hope suddenly remembered the knife she had in her pocket. She pressed her lips together and tried to keep herself together and find the courage to do what she had to do. 

“I’m so sorry.” She said with her voice broken before she sticked the knife on the side of her throat. 

The girl stopped moving and now blood was filling the water. She took out the knife and let the body float.

Hope started crying uncontrollably and quickly came out of the water at the sight of blood. She held her head in her hands and gasped for air in between the sobs.

She started to calm down slowly. She stopped crying. She took the arrows and bow of the girl and started walking. 

Her breathing was steady again. Her emotions went off for a moment. She had to keep herself together. 

She killed her first person. She would kill more of them. There was no point in crying. 

She kept walking for a while until she heard some voices coming from east. She climbed a tree and hid herself on the first branch up there and hoped it was high enough for them not to notice her. 

“Didn’t you say we were going the right direction?” A blonde girl asked. Hope couldn’t see who she was talking to though.

“I think so. I lost her at some point. I don’t know if she kept going this way.”

“Look 12, if you’re messing with me, I’m going to kill you right here, right now.” 

_12._

Hope leaned over to take a better look and her eyes caught a brunette holding a sword. It was Josie. 

Hope wondered how did she even find a weapon like that. But mostly, she wondered why was she working with that girl and who they were looking for. 

“I seriously don’t know! I’ve been with you the whole time!” Josie bursted out.

“Well if you don’t know then you’re of no use to me.” 

Hope noticed that the girl was holding a knife that was now pointed at Josie. She was going to kill her. 

Hope knew that Josie had a sword and she was probably quite capable of using it, but Hope had just killed someone and Josie probably didn’t. And she didn’t want her to do that if she could prevent it.

Hope took an arrow from her sack and pointed it with the bow to the girl. 

“I wouldn’t do that.” 

Suddenly both girls raised her heads to look up at Hope who was pointing the arrow at the blonde girl. 

She laughed. “There you are. We’ve been looking for you.” 

Hope pretended like that didn’t bother her. She swallowed hard and kept pointing at the blonde under Josie’s panicked gaze.

“You found me. Now come and catch me if you dare.” She said. Her voice still.

“Mikaelson, isn’t it? The daughter of a traitor, who magically survived the fire. It must suck being the niece of the President but being treated like the traitor you are and sent here to die. Even if you kill me..they’re all looking for you.”

“Let them come.”

Suddenly she made a quick move and punched Josie in the stomach so that she could take the sword from Josie’s hands and point it at her throat, holding her hands behind her back. 

“Come down 12, or your partner dies.” 

“She’s not my partner.“

“Are you sure about that?” She smiled amused. 

Hope didn’t blink. She kept her arm steady. The girl made a sudden move and scratched Josie’s neck before Hope could stop her from hurting her. Josie screamed in pain.

“Stop!” 

The blonde looks at Hope again and watches her come down, her hands in the air, her bow down on the grass.

The girl smiles amused again. “You really believed that?” 

She was about to move the sword when Hope quickly grabbed the knife from her pocket and threw it in the air, hitting the blonde straight in her right shoulder. 

She let Josie go while screaming in pain. Hope charged her bow again and pointed it at her. Anger in her eyes.

“I’m not sorry.” 

She shoots the arrow in her heart and watches as the girl stops breathing. 

She turns around to face Josie who was standing behind her, visibly shaking.  
Hope should soften seeing her like that. Hurt. Bleeding. Scared. But she couldn’t. 

Josie was going for her. 

“You were helping her to find me.” 

“I wasn’t, Hope. I swear...” 

“Don’t you ever stop lying?!” Hope raises her voice and Josie steps back. 

“I’m not lying, Hope! I was looking for you, but to help! I came across her and I had to lie to stay alive somehow.” 

“You want to help me? _Me_ , who just saved your life.”

“Fine. Just kill me already. I know you’re so eager to do that. Go ahead.” She said angrily.

Hope walked towards her as Josie stepped back until her back hit against a tree and Hope was with the knife on her throat. Their faces closer than they’ve ever been. Josie could feel Hope’s breath on her.

“The first place has been taken. Maybe I’ll kill you when it’s just you and me left.” She whispered and then let her go. 

She took her things and walked away, leaving Josie catching her breath and trying to stay on her feet.

Hope walked for about an hour, luckily she didn’t find anyone in her way. She managed to catch a squirrel and lit a fire to cook it and eat. She won’t say thank you to that someone who thought her that. 

When it was night, she climbed a tree and tied herself to the branch to keep herself from falling while she was asleep.

Before she could close her eyes, images of the ones who were killed that day appeared in the sky. Five more people. 

Eleven left. 

Hope put her hands in her coat since she started feeling cold. Suddenly she felt something in her hand, something small. She took it out and saw that it was the necklace Nik had given her before leaving. 

Hope instantly smiled. She thought Marcel must have put it there and she was grateful for it. 

She put it around her neck and held the pendant in her hands while her eyes closed and she let herself rest for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I already told you the story is based on the four movies but I don’t think I will split the story. I’ll keep writing the following parts all in once here, also because I feel like it’s better 👀 
> 
> Let me know what you think. <33


	6. Chapter 6

Hope woke up with the sound of small rocks hitting her legs. Others hit the tree or just flew into the air. 

She frowned and looked around her while her eyes were still adjusting to the light. She looked down the tree but no one was there. 

“Psst.” 

She glanced to her right and noticed a small boy spying on her from a bush. He was completely camouflaged in the green of the leaves. If he hadn’t moved, she wouldn’t have known. 

She recognized the boy from their first training day. It was Pedro. 

“Can I come up there with you?” He asked her. 

Hope smiled nicely at him and unleashed the nod of the rope around her legs.

“What if I come down there instead?”

“You shouldn’t, I think I heard some of them.”

“Some?”

“They’re in groups. I lost my partner, Kaleb. I don’t know where he is.“ 

Meanwhile Hope had come down from the tree and was looking at him attentively. 

“Have you drank or eaten something?”

He shook his head softly. 

“Come on, I know a place. You look dehydrated.” 

Hope placed her bow and arrows on her shoulders and took Pedro’s hand, who seemed to be happy with the gesture. 

They walked in silence until they arrived near the river. Both of them cleaned up a bit and drank, then they sat down in the shadow of the trees so that they weren’t too much exposed. 

“Why aren’t you with someone?” Pedro asked.

It took a few moments for Hope to find the answer. “I do better alone.”

“That’s not true. If you’re with someone, you have more chance.”

“Oh yeah? Couldn’t they try to kill me like the others?”

“I guess. But..for example, Kaleb protects me. He wouldn’t kill me.” 

Hope smiled softly. “Then Kaleb is the good one.” 

“You are too.” 

Hope looked at him in silence, then he went on. 

“I mean...you are helping me. You didn’t try to kill me. You are good.” 

Hope smiled. It was probably a weird thing the fact that she was imagining Nik talking to her in that moment, she couldn’t help but think about him. Pedro was so much like Niklaus and Hope felt the need to protect him.

“If you say so.” 

“Your name is Hope, right?” 

“Yes. And yours is Pedro, right?”

He nods.

“I saw the other girl from your district yesterday. I was hiding so she didn’t see me, but I think she was hurt.” 

Hope’s face dropped. She knows what she said to Josie, but for a moment she couldn’t help but feeling worried. 

“How much hurt?” 

“I don’t know...she had a hand on her stomach. I saw blood.” 

Hope’s heart suddenly started beating faster. If Josie was dead, she would’ve known. Her name was not between the dead. She must be somewhere. 

“Hey Pedro, what do you say if we go on walking? I’ll help you find Kaleb.”

“No! You can’t.”

Hope frowns. “Why?”

“I know that Kaleb is good, but I don’t know if he won’t kill you. I don’t want you to die.” 

Hope’s face softened. She rested a hand on his shoulder and looked in his eyes. 

“You don’t have to worry about me. Come on, let’s go.” 

They walked for what seemed two hours and luckily they didn’t find anyone in their way. 

“Kai is the worst of them. He’s the one with the axe. Then there’s Dana. She’s stupid, she has two knives but can’t really use them. Then there’s Sasha, she also has a knife. The other two, Jed and Alyssa, I don’t know what they have, but they look dangerous.”

“So they’re all together?”

“At least for now. They can’t stay together forever, can they?”

Hope glanced at him while he kept watching at his feet. This kid was pretty smart and knew how things really were. That’s why Hope doesn’t do groups. They would end up killing each other anyway.

Suddenly she heard the cracking of a broken branch. She placed a hand on Pedro’s chest and both of them stopped walking.

“Did you hear that?” Hope whispers.

“Hear what?” He whispers too.

Hope takes an arrow and places it on her bow, keeping the string pulled and the arrow pointed ahead while she turns to look all around her.

She then hears feet stepping on dry leaves. She keeps her eyes in the direction of the bushes. 

“Come out. I know you’re there.” 

Suddenly the bushes moved again and Josie slowly walked out of the shadows. Hope put her bow down without thinking about the brunette as a potential danger, but mostly surprised to see Josie there. 

“You’re alive.” Hope’s voice came out weak. She didn’t mean to sound like that, but somehow she felt relieved. 

“I know, that’s disappointing.” Josie said sarcastically. 

But no. It wasn’t for Hope. 

Josie seemed to be just fine though. Hope scanned her from head to toe and noticed the blood on the brunette’s shirt. She leaned a hand to take a look but Josie stopped her. 

Their fingers brushed together and for a moment Hope felt like a familiar touch. 

“I’m fine. Damon sent me some healing cream. It’s just the shirt.” 

“Who did this to you?” Hope asked. 

Josie sighed annoyed. “It was Alyssa, but I knocked her out with a huge rock and got away.” 

“Wasn’t she in group?”

“No, she was alone. Why?”

“I guess the group is splitting.” Hope said looking at Josie and then at Pedro. 

“What if they got Kaleb?” Pedro asked worried.

Hope kneeled down and took his hand. “I can’t promise you he’s still alive, but I can tell you we will look for him until we know for sure he isn’t.” 

Josie was watching silently and admiring this soft side of Hope she never got to see until now. 

They kept walking in silence until Hope thought it was best if they stopped to eat something. So while Josie set up the fire, Hope went hunting and came back with two squirrels. 

They eat in silence, only Pedro says a few words from time to time. When Hope sees that he had finished his portion, she hands him another piece. 

“Here, eat this too.”

“But that’s your part.”

“I’m full.” 

Pedro did a weird face and took the piece of meat, then looked at Hope with the corner of his eyes. “Liar.” 

Hope chuckled softly. The sound of it surprised even Josie. Probably that was the first time she’d seen Hope smile so close to her. But not because of her, of course. 

“You remind me of my cousin.” She said smiling.

“He’s lucky to have someone like you. No one volunteered for me. But it’s how it was supposed to be, I guess.”

Both Hope’s and Josie’s hearts broke hearing that. They shared a sad look and then Hope looked back at him, who was still focused on eating.

“You know what I told my cousin before the reaping started?” She paused and he looked at her. “I told him to be brave. And I’m telling you now. Be brave. We can’t be scared now. You have to be smarter than everyone. Even than me.”

“I am smarter than you.”

“Oh yeah?” Hope smiled amused. “I’m going to trust you on that.” 

Josie smiled too. 

The moment was interrupted by steps coming from behind the trees. Hope instantly got up and took the bow while Josie held two knives.

“Pedro, get behind me.” Hope said. But he didn’t. He took his little knife and got ready for a fight.

Suddenly two tributes appeared smiling at them amused. They were Jed and Dana. 

“Look who’s here. We got both the 12! This is our lucky day.” Jed said smiling and holding tight his knife.

“If you call luck being dead, then sure.” Hope said.

“Don’t worry Mikaelson. We’ll take the brunette first. She killed Alyssa.” He looked at Josie with murderous face. 

Josie swallowed hard. She didn’t know if she had killed Alyssa, but now she did. 

“Not if I catch you first.” 

Hope says and shoots an arrow that flies precisely in between Jed’s and Dana’s face.

They look at her with anger and point their weapons at her.

“That was a warning. Don’t make me go past the warning.” 

“You know what? Maybe I’ll kill you first.” 

Jed put his strength in his arm and got ready to throw a knife at Hope. And he did. But at the same time Hope shoot him the arrow in his chest and killed him. 

Meanwhile Hope was on the ground too with the knife sticked in her left shoulder.   
She had dropped the bow and was now groaning in pain with a hand around the knife. 

“Hope!” Josie rushed to help her, but she somehow had forgotten about Dana being still there. 

She was leaning over Jed while crying and then took out the arrow from his chest.   
She turned to look at Josie and Hope with anger in her face. Then she dropped the arrow and took out two knives. Hope knew what she was about to do.

“Josie, shoot her with the bow, now. Now.” 

Josie rushed to take the bow and point it at her. Dana was fast enough to throw the first knife through the air with all the strength she had, while Josie shoots the arrow at her at the same time right into her stomach. 

She drops the other knife before falling down on her knees and then lying on her side dead. 

Josie let out a heavy breath and then she heard Hope crying. She instantly turned around to see Pedro lying there with the knife in his chest and Hope holding him with his head rested on her lap.

“Oh my god.” Josie kneeled down feeling tears forming in her eyes. 

Pedro was losing blood even from his mouth but he kept fighting to breathe.

“Pedro? Stay with me, okay? We’re going to help you. You’re going to be okay.” Hope said in between tears.

“It’s..okay.” He struggled to talk and started coughing blood. But he gave her one last smile. “Time..to be brave, right?”

Hope sobbed while she kept applying pressure around the knife on his chest to stop the bleeding, but she knew by now that it was useless. 

Suddenly he stopped breathing and Hope started crying loudly. She was still holding him tight. Josie was crying too, but she also paid attention to Hope’s knife still in her chest and it didn’t look good.

That was what made her focus on the fact that they still had to survive. She looked around her to see if anyone else was coming. No one was.

She wipes off her tears and gets up to kneel down next to Hope.

“Hope, we have to leave. We need to take care of that. It looks bad.”

“We can’t leave him here. We can’t...” She said, her voice broken.

“I know. But we have to. Hope? Look at me.” Her voice was eager but soft. She places a finger under Hope’s chin to meet her blue eyes full of tears. “He’s at peace now. I promise you.” 

She started to calm down until she fully stopped crying. Josie waited for her patiently, then Hope turned her attention to her. 

“Can you pick some flowers?” 

Josie noticed the effort Hope put to say that. Her face was pale. The knife was definitely starting to infect her. She needed to take care of that, but before she did as the girl asked.

Josie picked some white flowers and placed them around Pedro’s head and then on his chest. 

She glanced at Hope. She looked tired and in pain. Josie placed an arm around Hope’s back and helped her stand up. 

“Where are we going?” Hope asked in a small voice.

“I know a place.” 

After a few minutes they arrived at the river. Josie was basically dragging Hope with her. Hope didn’t know where they were going. Her eyes were closed. She kept passing out and coming back whenever Josie asked her to stay awake. 

Suddenly she felt her body still. They weren’t moving anymore. And she couldn’t see the light. She thought she was dead for a moment and that was the darkness taking her. But then she opened her eyes and saw that it was a cave. 

She coughed while Josie ripped Hope’s shirt to look at the wound. It didn’t look good, as she suspected. 

“It’s getting infected. I have to take it out.” 

“I‘ll bleed out.” Hope mumbled.

“No you won’t. I have something to stop the bleeding. I stole it from Alyssa.” 

Hope laughed amused. “The infection will kill me anyway.”

“Just shut up. Save your strength. I’m going to take it out now, okay?” Josie places her hand on the knife handle. Hope nods and shuts her eyes closed.

Josie pulls the knife out with a quick and precise movement and quickly puts a bandage on Hope’s wound while she groans and screams in pain. Josie tries to stay focused. 

She takes out some brown cream that the sponsors must have sent to Alyssa. To be honest Josie was glad that she killed her. 

She realized how wrong that was as soon as she said it in her head. But Hope was there, almost dead. And the only thing that kept her from dying was that cream. 

So yes, probably it was a good thing that she killed her. 

Hope started to calm down while she observed Josie bandage her shoulder and chest. 

“Why are you helping me?” Hope asked her in a soft voice. She genuinely wanted to know.

Josie glanced at her for a moment before returning her attention to the bandage. “Why shouldn’t I?” 

“I threatened to kill you.” 

“But you didn’t. You actually saved me from Jed.” 

“That was..an accident.” 

Josie giggles. “An accident, right.” 

“I might still kill you.”

“Really?” 

Their eyes met and they just stared at each other for a while. But Josie was also waiting for an answer. She wanted to know.

Hope swallows hard and then almost whispers. “No.” 

Josie smiles lightly. She tries to hide but Hope sees it even though she had just looked away a moment before.

“What do you have to smile about?”

“If you’re not going to kill me, that means I’ll have to do it.” 

“I said I’m not going to. That doesn’t mean the others won’t kill you before you try to kill me.” Hope pointed out.

“You would let them do that?”

Hope stayed silent. She didn’t do that because she didn’t know what to say. In fact she had the answer. She just didn’t want to say it out loud. 

“Hope?” Josie asked again. 

“No. I wouldn’t let them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that I did something bad :( Forgive me guys. We know the Hunger Games are not fun. 
> 
> Anyway I should probably clarify the fact that the tributes are picked without difference of genders so they don’t have to be a boy and a girl. That probably was obvious by now but I thought I had to say it 😂 
> 
> Let me know what you think <33


	7. Chapter 7

Hope woke up feeling her shoulder as if it was burning. It was the worst pain she ever had to experience. She looked around the cave but she was alone. 

Along with the pain, she started panicking. Josie wasn’t there. Her stuff was not there. Hope felt the air missing from her lungs. Maybe the infection was already killing her.

“Josie?” She pleaded. 

But Josie wasn’t there. She wondered if she had left her there to die or something happened to her. It’s not that she thought Josie didn’t have a chance of survival on her own, but the ones left out there were not easy to take down. And Hope was worried that Josie could get tricked by them.

“Josie?!” She called louder. 

She almost couldn’t feel her arm anymore. She started crying. She cried because of the pain and she cried because Josie wasn’t there. And she was alone.

She did use to think she was better on her own, but now she was starting to get what Pedro meant to say when he said that you could have more chance of survival with someone by your side.

Hope didn’t have that someone. And that was on her. Now she was dying and it was her fault. 

The pain started to make her feel numb. She wasn’t sobbing anymore but crying silently. 

She fixed her gaze into a dark point of the cave and stayed like that, just waiting for the pain to stop. 

It wasn’t until she felt a hand on her arm that she saw Josie next to her. She cupped Hope’s face in her hands to look at her. She was talking to her but Hope could only ear Josie’s voice muffled. She felt whistling in her ears. 

Then she passed out. 

When she opened her eyes again, she wasn’t feeling her skin burning anymore. She felt exhausted, but okay. She didn’t know how that could be.

She looked at her shoulder and noticed the big scar sewed up. The infection gone.

Then she noticed Josie sitting a few feet from her, sharpening a wooden stick with the knife. When she saw Hope moving she raised her gaze and stopped what she was doing.

“Hey. How are you feeling?”

Hope sat down slowly and squeezed her eyes. She was trying to remember when exactly she had healed.

“Um..good.” She cleared her throat.

Josie took the water bottle and sat next to her. “Here. You need to drink.”

Hope used her right hand to take the bottle and drink. Then she focused her gaze on Josie’s. She had a cut on her cheek. Hope’s eyes widened and she leaned over rubbing her thumb on Josie’s cheek. 

“What happened? Who did this?” 

Josie blushed but she was glad that there wasn’t enought light for Hope to see it. “Nothing. As usual, they tried. I got away.”

“Why did you go out there in the first place?”

“They made an announcement. There were supplies that we needed and I had to go.” 

“What supplies?”

“There was the medicine to stop your infection.”

Hope realized that was why Josie wasn’t there when she woke up the first time. For some reason that made her angry. 

“Are you crazy? It was dangerous. You shouldn’t have risked your life for me.”

“But then you would’ve died.” Josie says as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. 

“So what? Wouldn’t that be convenient for you?” 

Josie frowned. “No. It wouldn’t.” 

Hope‘s next words got lost in her head for a moment, then she looked away and tried to stay tough.

“Sure.”

“You could just say thank you, you know. I saved your life.”

“I didn’t ask, but thank you.” Hope bursted out, still upset.

She was doing that again. She was refusing help and that almost made her look like she wanted to die.

“You’re welcome.” Josie was upset too.

Josie thought it was so hard to do something good for Hope, because she just couldn’t see it. 

Surprisingly Hope broke the silence again.

“Do you have some of that cream left for your cut?” 

“No. But it’s fine. It just burns a little.” 

“Let me see it. Might be infected.” 

Hope leaned her hands to Josie’s face and the brunette hesitated for a moment, but then she let Hope place a hand on her neck while with the other examined the cut on her cheek. 

They were close. So close, that Josie was trying to hold back her breathing so that Hope wouldn’t feel how fast it actually was. 

“It shouldn’t be. But you could put some water on it.” 

Hope caressed her cheek with her thumb and then met Josie’s gaze. Hope hadn’t noticed how close they’d gotten. Suddenly her heart seemed to start running faster. 

Her hands were still placed on Josie’s face. And there was nowhere to go. 

Their lips were already close, so Hope leaned in a little more and brushed their lips together first. And as she felt Josie shaking under her touch, she crashed their lips together in a deep but gentle kiss. 

It lasted only a few seconds, but it felt longer. When Hope pulled away, her eyes met Josie’s. She could read the confusion in her face. 

“Why..why did you do that?” Josie whispered. Her voice was trembling.

“That was a thank you, for saving me.”

“But you said that already.” 

“I guess that felt more right.” Hope whispers. 

Her hands are still on Josie’s face, but as Josie looks away, Hope breaks the contact and Josie suddenly feels the pain on her cheek again.

“I’m sure the viewers really liked to see that.” Josie said while she started sharpening the stick again, not looking at Hope.

She frowns. “What do you mean?”

Josie raises her gaze and points something in the corner of the cave. It was quite dark but it was pretty evident. Hope wondered how she couldn’t have seen that there was a camera before. 

She looked at Josie again but she had already turned her attention back to the stick. 

She didn’t mean to do that for the cameras. Josie should know that. Hope didn’t even know there was a camera in there until now. That should mean something. Josie shouldn’t think that poorly of her. 

But that didn’t matter. It didn’t matter if Josie thought that, because soon one of them would be dead anyway.

“We should move. I can hunt something to eat.”

“You need to rest or you won’t be able to defend yourself. And with that shoulder you couldn’t even hold the bow.” 

That was true.

“Fine. But we move at dawn.” 

Josie didn’t say anything. Hope kept looking at her while the girl seemed lost in her thoughts and not paying attention to her. 

Hope didn’t know what else to say to her. So she figured she would just rest for a bit. She slowly fell asleep while watching the brunette. 

But soon a nightmare started tormenting her sleep.

_Hope was seven and she was in her room when she heard voices coming down her house. She walked cautiously down the stairs trying not to be seen. She had heard her father scream in rage as he often did. She kept going though. And she walked on her parents, her uncles and her aunt arguing with some man she had never seen._

_When she made a step forward she was able to see he was with two guards and they were armed. Hope couldn’t hear what he said. But next thing she hears is the sound of gunshots and then her uncle Kol falls on the floor._

_Hope flinched and covered her mouth to keep quiet. The next thing she hears is her mother pleading to the man_

_“Please, don’t do this. There’s the child..”_

_“She will live. Not because I want to. But I promise you she will die too by my hand someday. But right now, I made a promise.”_

_“Please..” Her mother cried._

_“Kill them all.” He told the guards._

_And then the house was filled with the sound of gunshots. Hope started crying on the stairs and it was then that she saw the fire starting to burn from downstairs. Her first instinct was to run to her parents, although something or someone seemed to hold her back._

In her nightmare, she wanted to move. She wanted to run. But she couldn’t. She was paralyzed. And the fire was starting to reach her. 

_“Mom! Dad!” She coughs. “Dad! Dad!” She cries._

_The fire is at her feet._

Hope was moving frantically and screaming in her sleep. She opened her eyes and she realized she could finally move. She wasn’t paralyzed. 

And Josie was leaning over her with her hands rested on Hope’s arms and a worried face.

“You were screaming in your sleep. Are you okay?” 

Hope was still gasping for air and trying to come back to reality, which wasn’t surely better. But at least here she wasn’t burning. 

“I..” She tried to hold back the tears because she had to stop crying. That was not a place where to cry.

“It’s okay. It was just a nightmare. You’re safe.” Josie said in a soft voice. 

Hope nodded and calmed her breathing. She looked at Josie watching her intently. 

“I’m sorry.” 

“You don’t have to apologize for having a bad dream.”

“No I...I’m sorry if you thought I hated you. I don’t. I never did.” 

Josie was relieved to hear that. Even though somehow it was painful knowing this now.

“I never hated you either. But I think you knew that already.” 

Hope was still uncertain about Josie’s crush for her. They never really talked back when they were kids, so Hope was having a hard time believing that Josie had a soft spot for her. But deep down she didn’t want to believe it was all for the cameras.

“Josie?” 

The brunette directed her attention to Hope.

“You said you had a crush on me. How?”

“What do you mean how?”

“How did you realize.” 

Hope’s voice was soft and almost afraid to say out loud what she meant to ask. Josie felt nervous but she figured she could free herself of the truth she had buried for so long. 

“I realized I had a crush on you three years ago. It was raining and I had nothing on but the school uniform. I was freezing and waiting for the rain to stop at the school entry.” She paused and finally looked at her. “You were there. And you saw me and asked me if I was cold because apparently I was shaking. You gave me your coat before I could even tell you something. You..saw me. I just felt..I don’t know. I couldn’t get you out of my head.”

Hope was listening silently, her heart beating fast. She could feel it pumping into her throat. It probably was trying to get out. 

“I don’t know how you went home later. I always wondered though. I also kept your coat. Maybe I should’ve given that back to you.”

“You should’ve.” Hope said. 

She wasn’t accusing her. Josie knew because her tone was soft. It was more like she was giving voice to Josie’s regret, as if it was her own.

Josie did regret not giving it back to her.

Josie just stared at her with her mouth half open. Hope felt herself trapped in Josie’s gaze. As if she wanted to escape her but she couldn’t. Even her eyes couldn’t look away. 

But luckily Josie did it first. She got up and started picking up her stuff.

“We should go.” 

Hope nodded and got up, luckily feeling her shoulder less sore. They walked out of the cave and went back into the woods. 

Hope was looking around her to see if there was something to hunt, so that they could eat. After a few minutes walking she noticed three squirrels jumping from one three to another. She stopped.

“Hey, I’m going to catch those squirrels. Can you go find some wooden for the fire? We meet back here.” 

“Okay.” 

They split and while Josie disappeared behind the high bushes, Hope looked up the trees and moved silently to catch them. She had her arrows ready to shoot, she just had to find the target. 

Suddenly she did and caught it right in the eye. She tried to look for another one, but they were probably hiding now. So she walked a bit far to change the spot and waited patiently, listening carefully to the noises around her. 

She caught a squirrel with the corner of her eyes and with a sudden move she hit this one in the eye too. 

She put it in the backpack with the other one and headed back to where she left Josie. She kept walking waiting to see her eventually, but she didn’t.

“Josie?” 

She wondered how far did she go just to find some wood. 

Hope kept walking towards north until something caught her attention. More someone. 

There was a girl from district 6 dead behind a fallen tree. Hope walked closer to see if she was actually dead and if she had something that could be of use. 

She looked in her backpack but didn’t find anything. Then she kneeled down to look at her. Her eyes were still open and her skin was full of purple spots. Hope realized that no one could’ve killed her. 

She noticed some wild berries in her hands. She instantly realizes that they were poisonous. 

Hope got up and walked away because it was too much to bear. She had killed before but that didn’t mean she got used to see death. 

“Hope? Hope!” Josie came running.

“There you are! Where were you? You were supposed to meet me over there, not going running through the woods.” Hope said scolding her. 

“Sorry. But I found wild berries behind a bush. Look.” 

Hope’s eyes widened and instantly slapped Josie’s hands, making the berries fall on the grass. 

“What did you do?! Did you eat them?!” She yelled and hit her on her chest. Josie was caught off guard by her reaction. 

“What are you doing?! No I haven’t yet!” 

“Those are poisonous! I just found the girl from 6 dead because of this! You could’ve died!” She hit her two times more while Josie kept walking backwards without fighting back. 

“I didn’t know. I’m sorry!” 

“You should be!” She yelled again. 

Then silence fell between them. 

Hope let out a deep breath and then closed the distance between them in a hug. 

Josie was surprised by the sudden affection. It took a moment for her to reciprocate the hug and surround Hope’s waist with her arms. 

Hope probably was holding her more than she intended to. And tighter than she intended to. 

“I’m sorry.” Josie whispered again. 

“Well well, what do we have here.” 

They instantly broke the hug and turned around to face Kai looking at them with a devilish smile and twisting the axe in his hands. 

“What are you doing exactly? Planning to build a wooden house and live here together? You do know we have something to finish, right?” 

“What a waste of time turned to be your group, right?” Hope said. 

“It’s the game, Mikaelson. At some point you stop making strategy. You just kill.”

“That’s not my case.” 

She had her bow pointed at him because who knows what he could’ve done. Hope was having a hard time focusing since she wasn’t only thinking about dealing with him. 

She was also making sure that Josie wasn’t exposed so that he couldn’t hurt her. 

“Why are you still playing the protective girlfriend? Are you telling me you’re willing to die for her?” Kai asked pretending to be shocked.

Hope presses her lips together in anger and tightens her hold on the bow. 

“Hope, let’s just go.” Josie whispers, but Kai hears her anyway.

“And go where, exactly? It’s just the uh three of us left, If you hadn’t noticed. Or you two don’t watch the news?” 

“Then let’s get this over with.” Josie said stepping forward with her knives. 

Suddenly there was a strong roar that echoed everywhere. The three of them stopped to listen around them. 

“What was that?” Kai asked.

Then there was silence again.

“That’s the last test.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was definitely my favorite chapter to write and i think you can see why 😭  
> Here in Hope’s nightmare you can also see why she was so scared of fire.
> 
> Next chapter is the end of the first part that would be the first movie. but i’m already writing the second part that i’ll keep posting here as it follows as i anticipated 👀 
> 
> thank you to everyone who’s reading the story and leaving such nice comments. <3 I’ll answer them as soon as I can. 
> 
> Let me know what you think about this chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

They stood there in silence. Hope was paying attention to the noises around her, but there was just quiet. 

Suddenly one of the mutts jumped out of the bushes and attacked Josie, trying to bite her. Josie screamed and tried to fight back while Kai had already ran away.

Hope quickly shoot an arrow into the animal’s back while Josie stabbed him with both knives, making him move away and roar in pain. But they knew that wasn’t going to stop him. 

“Josie run!” 

Both of them started running fast without looking back. They could also hear the other two mutts now following them.

They kept running for minutes until they arrived at the open space of the arena where the metal house was.

Hope quickly jumped up and then leaned her hand to help Josie. She struggled and slipped twice before she could finally go up there but eventually she did it in time. 

The three mutts were moving in circles down there but luckily they wouldn’t be able to reach them. 

They tried to catch their breath while glancing down at the three animals. Then Hope turned her attention to Josie and widened her eyes seeing blood on her stomach. She almost impulsively lifts her shirt to look at it.

“Oh my God you’re bleeding. Are you hurt? Did he bite you?” 

“No, I’m okay. I’m okay. It’s not my blood.” 

Hope let out a sigh of relief and slowly let her arms fall to her side. She turned around and brought a hand to on forehead. She had to think about how to get them out of that mess quickly. But suddenly she heard Josie’s muffled cry. 

When she looks in Josie’s direction, Hope faces Kai holding her from behind with a hand on her mouth while with the other he blocked her hands.

“Leave her.” Hope said with an angry look.

“With pleasure.” He walked closer to the edges getting ready to throw her down to the mutts.

“I really wouldn’t do that.” Hope threatened him with the bow in her hands.

He laughed. “Well shoot then, I’ll just take her down with me. We’re both dead anyway, Mikaelson.”

“Not her.” 

“Oh to be young and in love.” 

Hope gritted her teeth and pressed her lips together in frustration. She had to stay focused. She had to take control of the situation. 

But her eyes met Josie’s. 

Josie’s watery and scared eyes. And Hope hated to see that. She had to think fast.

“You’re too slow, 12.” 

The next thing he does is stabbing Josie on her hip. Josie doesn’t even have enough air in her lungs to scream or breathe. 

For a moment she feels nothing but pain. Excruciating pain.

She falls heavily on the ground. She can only catch small breaths while she tries to cover the bleeding wound with her shaking hand. 

Hope spaces out for a moment. The fear in her eyes was visible. But then anger got the best of her and she looked at him with fire in her eyes.

“Now it’s only you and me.” He smiles. “Do you fear death, Mikaelson?” 

For the whole time in the games Hope never wanted to harm or kill because she wanted to. She always did it to survive. 

But right now, it was the first time she really wanted to kill. And shooting an arrow wasn’t going to do enough justice. 

She walked closer to him holding her bow tight in her hand. 

“Do you?” 

And then, without even giving him the time to react or talk, she smashes the metal bow into his head causing him to lose his balance and fall off, where the three mutts caught him. 

He screamed while the animals tore him apart piece by piece, until he couldn’t scream anymore.

But Hope wasn’t even listening to his screaming. She instantly ran to Josie and applied pressure on the bleeding wound. 

Josie was still conscious but barely. She kept convulsing and coughing, gasping for air. 

“Josie? Stay with me. You’re going to be fine. Just stay with me.” 

Josie kept coughing and for a moment managed to catch her breath to speak.

“Let it go Hope. It’s..it’s okay.” 

Hope was already panicking and Josie was of no help. “What? No! It’s not okay. You’re not dying here. You’re not.” 

She looks around her frantically and then she has an idea. She takes off her coat and uses the knife to cut the sleeve, so that she could bandage around her waist. Then she made a tight knot.

“Stay awake. I’ll be right back.” 

She took the bow and the arrow and shot at the distance so that the mutts would go away. 

She waited until they were gone for sure and carried Josie off the top of the metal house to lay her down on the grass. The sun was coming up. 

Hope was looking between the supplies if she could find one of those miraculous creams. 

“Please be here. Please be here. Something...just something.” She kept whispering to herself still panicking. 

Then she finally found what she was looking for. She ran back to Josie and kneeled down to expose her her abdomen and looked at her hip. It looked awful. 

But Josie did the same for her. She took care of her wound and Hope owed her that.

Only while she was spreading the cream she noticed that Josie’s eyes were closed.

“Josie? Tell me you’re awake. Talk to me.” 

“Hmm.” 

“Okay, that’s fine too.” She sighed.

When she was done she waited for Josie to recover and open her eyes. She believed it was working. Josie was still breathing so that was a relief. She seemed asleep. 

Hope was sitting with her back against the metal house and was holding her knees to her chest. 

She thought it was weird nothing was happening. She figured they would sent the animals back to finish one of them, or something else, but nothing happened. 

Suddenly Josie moved and slowly opened her eyes. They widened as she realized she was alive and Hope was there. She felt lost for a moment.

“It’s okay. You’re okay.” Hope said resting her hand over Josie’s. 

Josie seemed to calm down and let out a sigh. 

“What now?” Josie asked. 

She knew that they were the only ones left. She knew that they had to kill each other now. That’s why she didn’t want Hope to save her life in the first place. That would have been easier. 

Hope on the other hand was silent. That was probably the worst moment of all. She hated it. She hated the ones who made this possible. The ones that were powerful enough to make this look like a show, while they were in there to die. 

“Hope?” Josie asked again.

“Kill me.” 

She says without looking at the brunette. Her hands put together in a fist covering her mouth and her feet tapping nervously on the ground.

“What? No! I’m not killing you.” Josie said getting upset.

Hope turned to her side to look at her. “You have to. One of us has to be the winner. You live.” 

“Why me?” 

“Because I say so.” 

Josie grabbed Hope’s wrist and looked firmly in her eyes. Hope’s face softened instantly.

“I can’t do that, Hope.” She whispered to her face. 

Hope kept staring at her while biting her inner cheek nervously. 

“I saved you for a reason, I can’t let you die now.” She said softly. 

“What was the reason?” Josie asked genuinely.

No. Hope couldn’t answer that. She didn’t exactly know the reason. It was more of a feeling. It was...

“Can you just do it, please?” 

“No.”

“Fine. I’ll do it myself.” 

She tried to get up but Josie pulled her down.

“Are you serious? No! You can’t kill yourself.”

“I don’t think it’s against the rules.”

“Fine, if you do that, I come with you.” 

Hope’s lips parted slightly in shock but tried not to show it. 

She shook her head repeatedly. “No, you...”

“I don’t want to live if that means you die. We finish this together.” 

“How?” Hope whispers with her voice broken.

Josie suddenly puts a hand in her pocket and brings out the poisonous berries. Hope looks down at Josie’s hand and then their eyes meet again.

“Why do you have those?” 

“Just in case.” 

Hope lets out a sigh and then takes a few of the berries in her hands. Then she looks back at Josie.

“Are you sure about this?” 

“Positive.” Josie smiles slightly. 

Both of them are about to put the berries in their mouth when a voice stops them.

“Stop! Stop! Ladies and Gentlemen, this year we are glad to announce that the rule has changed. Since we never had the last two survivors belonging to the same district, this year we would like to double the winner for the courage showed by District 12. I present the victors of the seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Hope Mikaelson and Josie Saltzman, tributes of District twelve!”

Hope and Josie share an incredulous look  
and then jump into each others arms, letting out a sigh of relief. 

_

Hope walks back and forth into the dressing room. She is cleaned to perfection, her hair down in waves and a simple red dress. 

Suddenly Damon walks into the room. He instantly smiles at her and she smiles back while he pulls her into a quick hug.

“Are you ready?” 

“Yeah. Where is Josie?”

“She’s almost ready too. But first I have to tell you something.”

“What happened?”

“You’re in trouble. The Capitol seems to be furious about the fact that you two tried to change the game for them. And with them...I mean him. The President. The one thing he can’t stand is being played and tricked like this and now people are making fun of him, because you outsmarted both him and the gamemakers.” 

“I don’t care. What can he do now? I won. We won. After everything he did to me and my family, I believe he can take a little humiliation.” Hope said angrily.

“Oh if it was that simple. But listen,” he lowers his voice. “if they ask, you did it for love. Got it?” 

But Hope didn’t even know if that was the case. She just couldn’t think clearly back in that moment. God, if she thought about that moment...

She just wanted to forget it.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I present you our two victors from District 12!”

The audience cheers while Hope and Josie make their entrance together. They smile and wave to the audience and then they greet Caesar.

“Congratulations girls. So how does that feel to have gotten out of there alive?” 

“It feels great.” Hope smiled.

“Yeah, very.” Josie added.

“You two were separated at first, but when you came together you never left each other’s side. It was so moving to see how fiercely you two helped and protected each other. I believe we all agree on that.”

The audience cheers. Hope and Josie keep smiling. 

“So Josie, I guess she doesn’t hate you that much anymore. How did you feel when she kissed you in the cave?” 

Hope’s body stiffens while she turns her attention to Josie, who was trying to put the words together. 

“Like the world stopped for a moment.” She said looking at Hope right into her eyes. 

Hope tried not to let the words twist her head. They were only doing this because Damon asked them to after all.

“I bet that was quite a shock for you. And Hope, when did you realize you actually cared for her? Hell, love her.” 

_Love her?_

“Well..” 

“I think I know when it hit me. Apart from the kiss, I believe it was when you couldn’t find her and you feared she had eaten the wild berries.” Caesar stated.

“Yeah, I’d say that was the moment.” She smiled slightly.

“The effort you put in the end to save her was truly heartwarming. You saved her and then you were willing to die, even by your own hand, so that she could live.”

“Well..after everything, I couldn’t find the courage in my heart to kill her.”

“And your decision of dying together? I mean how strong what you feel for each other must be, for you to do something like that. Is that right, Josie?” 

Josie hesitated for a moment. She looked at Hope who had her gaze fixed on her. She felt nervous. 

“Yeah..so strong.” She almost whispered, as if she didn’t want anyone to hear even though she knew they all did. 

Hope swallows hard and then turns her attention back to Caesar. 

“Well then, that’s that. Congratulations to both of you. I wish you both the best. Citizens of Panem, I’ll see you next year! Goodbye by yours truly Caesar Flickerman.” 

_

Hope was on the train on her way back to the District. She was sitting by the window, her head rested on her hand. She felt tired. But she was finally going to see Nik again, and that was the only thing that mattered. 

She heard the sliding doors opening and closing again. Then Josie sat on the seat right in front of Hope, sighing softly.

She was trying hard not to look at Hope with the corner of her eyes and keep pretending she was really interested in the landscape. But eventually she gave up. 

“Do you think they believed it?” Josie asked her. 

Hope was caught a bit off guard, but her face stayed put. 

“Yeah, I think so.” She paused. “They wanted a love story and they had it.”

Josie nodded and looked down at her hands nervously playing together. 

“What you’re going to do once you get back?” 

“I’m going to hug Nik so tight..” She smiled. Josie did too. “And my aunts.” She paused and thought about it. “I honestly just want to forget.” 

Josie nodded again and tried to hide the sadness that was showing in her face. 

She was going to remember for the both of them then.

_

When they arrived to the District, everyone were there cheering and applauding. They put on a smile and waved at everyone. And for the last time, they held hands in sign of victory. 

When they broke the touch Hope had to move her fingers to shake the feeling of Josie’s hand still on her skin like a ghost. 

The thought of that was shaken away by the sight of Nik calling her from the crowd. Hope run through the crowd as he did the same until he was finally in her arms. And Hope could normally breathe again.

“I knew you would come back to us.” He said to her ear. 

Hope smiled and then broke the hug just to be surrounded by her aunts hugging her. Landon was also there and hugged her so tight to lift her from the ground, only to put her down again. 

They decided as first thing it was time to go home, but before walking away Hope’s eyes caught brown ones from the distance. 

Josie was with her family but couldn’t help looking at Hope. She just wanted to give her one last glance before everything was really over and she would go on and forget. 

They didn’t wave, nor smile at each other. It was just a look. Then Hope walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is the end of part one guys. 
> 
> I hope you liked it and that you’ll keep reading the story as I keep writing the next part (that would be the second movie).
> 
> I can tell you that I‘ve already started it so you won’t have to wait too long for that. Let me tell you it’s already my favorite part to write 😭 
> 
> Let me know what you think aaand I’ might update later this week. Love y’all <33


	9. Chapter 9

**11 months later.**

Hope was sitting on the rocks by the lake in the woods. She was in her hunting clothes but she probably should’ve put something warmer. 

The air was cold and she felt her muscles stiff. She should move and do something but she only sits there, watching as the sunset colors the clear sky. 

She would run away if she could. Now more than ever she would like to take on Landon’s offer before the reaping. 

But she couldn’t do much now. 

By noon everyone would be at her house at the Victor’s Village. One of the privileges of being the victor was that both her and Josie now lived in whole new houses with their families. 

And very close to each other. 22 meters away exactly.

And now everyone wanted to see how the victors were doing. How their love life was going, before they jumped on the train that would take them to the other districts to pay their respects, and ultimately to the Capitol, where they had to meet the very people she despised more. 

The thought of being in front of the cameras again made her sick, but at least she had the chance to see Katherine again, who was coming from the Capitol. And Marcel too. 

If it was up to her, she would try to forget the Hunger Games. Pretend like they never happened. She tried for a while, but her nightmares remembered for her.

Hope’s ears catch the sound of an animal trap she planted herself and then a groan of pain. She turns around with her bow and arrow already pointed at the target, before she realizes it‘s Landon.

He had his hands up in the air. “It’s just me.” He tries to move his foot but uselessly. He looks at her again. “A little help?” 

Hope walks over to free him before he could hurt himself even more. 

“I’m not the turkeys you were waiting for.” He jokes.

“I told you to watch out when I’m out here.”

“Well, sorry if I still feel like the dust of the mines is blinding me.” 

Hope gives him a sad look and finally frees him.

“What time does the train leave?” He asks. 

“A few hours.” 

“Then you should go.”

“I know but..just one more.” 

She walks ahead looking around her to find the turkeys and catch some. It’s true that they had more food now, but Hope never lost the habit of hunting. 

She hid behind a big rock and Landon soon followed her, kneeling down behind her and watching while Hope got ready for her shot. 

She pointed at one of the turkeys and shot the arrow. The other turkeys ran off while the only one she caught was left there. 

She walked closer to take a look and as she saw the arrow pointed straight in the animal’s chest, the image of the blonde girl from District 3 she killed to save Josie appeared before her eyes. 

She stepped backwards and started shaking and gasping loudly. Landon placed his hands on both her arms.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s just the turkey. You’re okay.” 

She suddenly realizes she was in fact safe. But that didn’t mean she felt like it. She stopped feeling safe since the day she entered the arena and still feels in danger because of the riots the other districts have raised in the meantime. 

She had become a symbol of hope for everyone. It was almost ironic how her uncle had thought of her as her family’s Hope, so much that they named her like that. 

And now she was the Hope of all the districts. Except she felt everything but that.

She didn’t feel that spark she was supposed to radiate. She felt off. Dead inside. 

But the only people she cared about were safe. Her aunts, Nik, Landon. They were safe and that was all that mattered.

Hope and Landon walked back to the city and she walked him home before going back to her house.

“Aren’t you coming to the station?”

“I don’t think I can make it. Then you have already a bunch of people who will come to see you.”

“But you’re amongst the very few I care about.” 

He smiled softly. “It might be easier this way.”

“It’s only a couple of weeks.”

“Who knows what could happen.” Landon says with a hint of disappointment.

“Again? Seriously?” Hope says almost in exasperation. “Landon, it was an act. The people had to believe we were in love. To survive.”

“Are you sure it was all an act?” 

It took half a second for her to answer.  
Usually if you answer fast, you’re either lying or sure about the answer. 

Hope didn’t know what of the two she was. 

“Yes. I’m sure.” 

Landon suddenly walks closer and cups her face into his hands, pulling her in for a sweet kiss. She doesn’t push him away. She doesn’t know if she was okay with that, but Landon’s affection felt pure and familiar.

He had been her only friend all along. They never went that far. Hope never thought about possibly having romantic feelings for him. This was confusing. 

“I had to do that, at least once.” He says. Then he leaves. 

Her thoughts suddenly went to when she kissed Josie. No one knew that, probably only Landon figured it, but Josie was her first kiss. She had never kissed anyone before and now with Landon kissing her, she was questioning which of the two had affected her more. 

Considering the fact that she had been barely looking at Josie in the past year, she would dare to say she hadn’t that kind of affection for the girl. 

She would say that everything she did and felt was dictated by the circumstances they were in. 

She wondered if the fact that she cared enough to save Josie was because she cared about a life or because she cared about her in particular. 

She was, after all, her partner. 

Hope walked to the Village with all these thoughts in her head. The air felt even colder and it probably was going to start snowing again soon. 

She entered the house already feeling the warmth of the fireplace coming from the living room. She took off her coat and walked to the kitchen only to find Damon sleeping on the table. Drunk, of course.

Hope wondered when Katherine would be there. She usually can keep him sober. Or at least sober enough to make sense when he talks. 

“Damon, wake up.” 

_Maybe he’s dead,_ she thought.

“Damon!” 

She takes the bottle of bourbon on the table and throws it in his face, causing him to jump immediately. 

“Couldn’t you just call me?!” 

“I did. You wouldn’t wake up.” 

“You wasted a good bottle of bourbon!”

“You need to clean yourself up. The cameras will be here in an hour.” 

He frowned. “But why waste the bourbon?!” 

Hope rolled her eyes and gave him a hateful look. 

“If you needed company you could’ve gone to Josie’s.”

“Her father and I actually became good friends you know.”

“See? You should go over there. Tell her I say hi.” She smiles sarcastically.

At the same time Josie walks into the room, still her coat on and trying to shake the snow off of her. Hope can’t deny that she stared at the girl for a moment, partially captured by her softness, but also feeling nervous about her being there.

“I’m here, tell me yourself.” 

Hope was caught off guard. She knew she had to talk to Josie today, but she surely didn’t want to start like this. 

Her voice almost choked in her throat and she almost asked herself why. 

“H..hi.” She said nervously.

Josie looked at her for a moment. The kind of disappointed look Josie had in the past few months every time Hope avoided talking to her or even look at her. 

“Hi.” She said before turning her attention to Damon.

“You two have a lot of warming up to do before the show.” Damon said.

Josie placed a bottle of bourbon in front of him and suddenly his eyes lit up. 

“See? That’s why I like her more.” He said glancing at Hope. 

“Of course.” She said with a hint of annoyance.

“But you have your privileges too. Deep down. Very deep down.”

“Take a bath, Damon.” 

Suddenly her aunt Freya walked into the room and glanced at Hope with a strange look. She seemed worried. 

“Aunt Freya, what’s wrong?”

“Oh nothing. But..can you come for a moment?” 

Hope nodded and followed her in the hallway. 

“You have a visitor.” She whispered.

Hope was confused, Freya seemed so mysterious. She probably wasn’t allowed to say more, so Hope just walked into the room to see who that was. 

She was shocked to see the President in the room, sitting behind the desk sipping a drink with a mischievous smile on his face.  
Hope tried not to make obvious the hate she felt for him. 

Her hate for him could make her do crazy things.

“Miss Mikaelson. Come in, take a seat.”

Hope walked silently to sit in front of him. 

“President.” Was all she said. 

He smiled content. As if her attitude was amusing him. 

“So brave. So caring...”

“What brings you here?” Hope asks directly. She doesn’t want this to last more than it has to.

“What do you think? You, of course.” He pauses. “I’m going to ask you to be honest with me. So I’ll be honest with you too.” 

Hope waited for him to go on.

“I have a problem. A problem that started since the moment you tried to trick the games with those poison berries. If it was up to me, in that moment, I would’ve incinerated you on sight. But...” 

Hope felt disgusted by the lack of humanity of this man. She was trying her best not to do something that would ruin her. 

“After that, I had to remove our gamemaker. And I had to start playing by your rules. Encouraging the lethal love of the two girls who gave hope to everyone. Who inspired people to rebel against the Capitol. You know why?” 

He said with a hint of threat that made Hope shiver. 

“Why?” She said in a small voice. 

“Because they think that you, Hope Mikaelson, the daughter of my bastard and traitor of a son, are on warpath against me. Your President. Your own family.” He pauses. “So if the niece of the President can dare to defy him, why can’t others try, right?” 

“That’s not what I meant to do.” She said. Her voice hard and emotionless.

“Well, unfortunately for you, me and many others didn’t believe your little act. And my power is on a thin ice. But if I wanted to, I could solve all my problems giving just one command. To burn this whole district down to the ground, included the people in it. Like District 13.” 

Hope felt her stomach burning as if the very fire was starting from inside her. If she had been able to spit fire, she would’ve started one.

“You were a great warrior in the games. But I don’t think you want to pursue a real war against me. Considering how it ended for your parents. Am I right?”

“You’re right.” 

Actually she would. 

He smiled and took a sip of his drink. 

“Oh, how is Josette by the way?”

Hope’s heart did a little jump.

“She’s fine.”

“She seems lovely. I wonder if she knows how little you actually care. But If I do, I believe she does too.”

“That’s not true.”

“Liar!” He yells and slams a hand on the desk. 

Hope closes her eyes and jumps a little, but then composes herself again, trying to show him that she was in control and she wasn’t scared of him.

“Just kill me. I know you’ve been waiting to do that for a long time.”

“I don’t want to kill you. I made a promise to my daughter. But what I want from you, is to show the districts how sorry you are about their losses and show the entire Capitol how in love you two are. Make big gestures, say how you can’t live without her, how she makes you happy...and _mean it.”_

“Mean it?”

“If I can tell that you’re acting, everyone else can. So you better start smiling and show some affection. Can you do that?” 

Hope just nodded. 

“Answer me!” 

“Yes, I can do that.”

“Wonderful.” He said standing up and fixing his suit. 

Before walking out of the room, he stopped to look at her once more.

“Don’t make me regret this, Hope. Think about the ones you care about.” 

Hope glanced at him angrily. How could he threaten her like this? Was he willing to hurt even his only daughter left now? She couldn’t allow herself to put in danger Freya and Keelin. And Nik. 

If she had to play nice and pretend to really fall in love with Josie, she would. It was just for a few weeks. 

Once they got down of that train, they would go back to their lives. Back to ignore everything that happened between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope and Mikael finally had a chat 👀 
> 
> Next chapter is probably my first favorite of this part. Be ready.


	10. Chapter 10

When Hope came back to the living room, still shaken by her latest encounter, she was greeted by a very cheerful Katherine who was dressed better than anyone in that room.

“There she is! My other champion.”

Hope looked at her and smiled lightly. “Katherine.” 

“You look amazing just like me as always. Just a little pale, but nothing that make up can’t fix. I have these two artists with me just to make you both shine in front of the cameras.” Katherine pointed at the two make up artists behind her, who awkwardly waved at Hope. 

“Where is Marcel?” 

“I’m right here.” He entered the door with a smile and open arms to greet Hope who instantly welcomed him with a hug. 

She was more than happy to see him after all this months. He was the only one who always supported her without ever ask something from her, and she was happy to have that person inside that awful world that was the Capitol.

“We have to get you ready. Come on.”

After she was finally ready, all she had to do was wait for the signal to go out and step in front of the cameras. 

She was standing behind the door quite nervously. She glanced at Katherine.

“Where’s Josie?”

“Here. We’re here. Sorry, it took a while to get the hair right.” Marcel said adjusting Josie’s coat while she walked to stand next to Hope.

Without realizing Hope had been staring at her more than she intended to and Josie had noticed. 

“What?” 

At that point she broke the eye contact and fixed her eyes on the door in front of her, as if that could really be something interesting to look at. Truthfully she couldn’t take the pressure of Josie staring at her. 

“You look beautiful.” She whispered. 

Josie suddenly glanced at her in surprise, but of course Hope didn’t look at her. She bit her tongue for saying that so casually, as if it wasn’t that big of a deal, which clearly was. For Josie, of course.

The brunette wondered where that compliment came from. 

Hope didn’t talk to her for months and then she pulls out something like this? 

She felt Josie’s gaze on her, but somehow now she couldn’t bring herself to meet her gaze.

If Hope had to force this thing on them, she had to at least try outside the cameras. But she knew that was going to be hard. 

Meanwhile Caesar was about to introduce them. 

“Welcome! Last year, the 74th Hunger Games brought us the most surprising and beautiful love story of our time. Two brave young people who partnered up together and fell in love, so much that they would rather die together in the games than let the other die for their own survival. Let’s go to District 12 to see how they are today!”

Katherine gave both of them one last tip. “Remember. Smile. You’re happy and in love. Go...now.”

As they stepped out of the door the lights of the cameras blinded them for a moment and they instantly were overwhelmed with the cheers of the audience. 

They smiled and as they were walking down the stairs, Josie stopped to turn around and offer Hope her hand, which she took gladly after a moment of hesitation.

“There they are! Our girls on fire!” 

“Hello Caesar.” Hope said smiling widely.

“It’s your day! How is it going there at the district?” 

“We’re good. We’re really good.” Hope said glancing at Josie. 

“Josie! Can you give us more than good?” 

“Oh well. I..I guess that’s the happiest I’ve ever been, all because of Hope.” 

The audience sounded moved by the lovely words. 

“So you finally got the girl Josie! Who would’ve thought?!” 

Josie’s smile faded a bit but she tried not to break the act. If she could even consider it as such. 

She met Hope’s gaze this time. Her face softened as Hope’s blue eyes sparkled under the lights of the cameras.

“Yeah, who would’ve thought.”

She leaned slowly closer to Hope and placed and gentle kiss on her lips. 

It was the first time after months that Hope felt the familiar touch of Josie’s lips. The feeling almost blinded her mind for a moment. She didn’t expect the brunette to do this, but she didn’t feel like complaining.

Thinking back to her kiss with Landon and now with Josie, this definitely was making her feel more than just surprised.

Suddenly they were brought to reality by Caesar who was trying to get their attention.

“You two are so sweet. It’s so touching, truly. We’ll be checking on you during the Victory Tour. Thank you so much! Hope Mikaelson and Josette Saltzman from District 12!” 

They give one last smile to the cameras before they turn off along with the lights. 

The air feels suddenly freezing cold. Josie lets go of Hope’s hand and puts some distance between them. 

Hope feels almost hurt, but she really shouldn’t. 

“You did good.” Hope said to her.

Josie shook off the snow from her coat and sighed. Her voice was almost a whisper. “Yeah. You too.” 

Then she walked away leaving Hope standing alone in the cold and the dark.

-

Before the sun was up they had already left the district and were on the way for their Victory Tour.

They were all sitting in the train wagon around a table full of food. Katherine was rambling about everything she reserved for them and giving them instructions about how they had to act with the other districts.

“All you need to do is read my notes, wave to the crowd and enjoy your time. You earned it.”

“Earned it?” Hope asked sarcastically.

“You know what I mean.” Katherine quickly dismissed her.

“No I don’t. What did I exactly get after I killed all those people if not constant nightmares?” 

“Hope...” Damon tries to stop her, but Hope was unstoppable. 

“I’m happy you all are enjoying this, really. You can do the work for me if you’d like, so I can go home.” 

She bursts out of the wagon to go to the trail of the train where she could be alone. She sat on the backseats and looked outside from the big windows. 

She kept holding her necklace, thinking about her family and everything the President said to her. 

But then she hears the sliding doors open and sighs heavily.

“Don’t lecture me now Damon.” 

Only when the person sat down on the other side of the seat, she saw that it was Josie. 

“You’re not Damon.” She said in a soft voice. Josie smiled.

“I get it, okay? I hate this as much as you do.” 

“I’m so sorry.” Hope said. 

Josie frowned. “For what?”

“For...kissing you in the games. If I hadn’t, we would probably be at home instead of doing this.”

“Or dead.” Josie said with a hint of obvious. “If that hadn’t happened, one of us would be dead for sure. So..maybe that saved us after all.”

“Yeah, I guess.” 

Hope kept looking outside while Josie was glancing at her, unsure about if she should say what she was thinking or not. 

“But we can’t act in front of the camera and ignore each other in real life, Hope.” 

At that point Hope met Josie’s gaze. She felt horrible. A terrible person. Josie surely deserved more than this. 

Hope knew by now that Josie’s feelings were true, as much as she tried not to believe it at first. 

She realized it when in the past few months Josie kept sitting by the window of her house watching her mother sewing, but in reality she was waiting for Hope to come home from her hunting in the woods. Every day for eleven months.

And every time she passed by, Hope just pretended she wasn’t there watching. But she knew. She always knew. 

“You’re right. I’m just..not good at friendships or whatever.” 

“Me neither. But we can start with small things.”

“Like what?”

“Like..what’s your favorite color?” 

Hope chuckled, which surprised even Josie. 

“I like all the colors of fall. You know, when the leaves start falling, the woods are like..a beautiful carpet of yellow, red, brown..” She paused, trying to picture it in her mind. She hoped Josie could picture it too. “Have you ever seen that?” 

Josie smiled weakly. “No. I’ve never been in the woods.” 

“Never?” 

“It’s kind of forbidden you know. I’m not like you.” She smirked.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hope smiled amused.

“You beg the rules as you please, Hope Mikaelson.” 

Hope laughed and felt her stomach tickle her with a weird feeling because of Josie saying her name like that. 

“That’s another thing you know about me then. What about you? What’s your favorite color?” 

Josie’s smile was stuck on her lips and couldn’t put it away while staring at the girl in front of her, who was actually looking at her and talking to her for the first time in months.

“Blue.” 

“Dark blue? Or more sky blue?“

“Sky blue..ocean blue.” 

_Like your eyes._

Hope nodded in understanding and then looked down at her hands playing nervously together. She stops. 

“Maybe one day I can take you to see the woods. During fall season.”

Josie smiled. “I’d like that.” 

-

Soon they arrived at District 11, which was the one of Kaleb and Pedro. 

Hope knew that would be hard for her, and she was glad when Josie offered to talk for the both of them. 

They stood in front of the entire district who looked at them silently. The first thing Hope noticed was the giant screen with Pedro’s face on it. She tried to fight the tears while Josie was talking.

“We’re honored to be here today. And with the families of your fallen tributes.” Josie stopped and pressed her lips together. Then put the notes Katherine gave her aside. 

“Both Kaleb and Pedro were young but very brave. Like us, they never fought with the aim to kill, but to protect each other. We know that nothing can bring them back and nothing we can say could make up for that loss, but we will do everything in our power to help the families of the fallen tributes. Thank you.” 

Josie started walking off the podium but Hope suddenly walked over to the microphone. A tear running down her cheek.

“I didn’t know Kaleb. But I knew Pedro. He told me that Kaleb was one of the good ones. Pedro didn’t know me, but trusted me enough to let me help him find his friend. He was sweet and smart..and brave.” She started crying more. “When I lost my family, I was shattered. It was..is, the worst pain I’ve ever had to experience. But they used to tell me something.” Her voice was shaking. “Family is power. And you, we all..are a family. And no matter the pain and the loss, family is Always and Forever.” She said looking at Pedro’s family crying from afar. 

“Always and Forever.” Pedro’s mom said from the crowd. 

Then she was followed by another. And another. Until the whole crowd was speaking those words almost as a pray.

The Peacekeepers suddenly stepped into the crowd and started hurting every person that was in their way. Then four of them grabbed Pedro’s mom and took her on the podium.

Hope had her eyes wide in fear. “Wait..no. Don’t hurt them! Leave her!” She shouted with all the voice she had.

Suddenly Hope was grabbed by Damon and brought inside. Just then, she heard a gunshot.

“What did they do?! She was innocent! They can’t do that! They can’t do that! She’s lost her son! She..she..”

Hope was desperate and trying to free herself from Damon’s grip but he didn’t let her.

“Shut up! There’s nothing you can do about it now! We need to go. Come with me.” 

They moved into another room away from the outside noises. Hope was crying and holding her head in her hands. 

“I didn’t want this to happen. I didn’t...”

Josie placed a hand on her shoulder to reassure her. “It’s not your fault Hope.”

“Of course it’s her fault! You see that? That, was hope. See what hope does to them? They believe they can go against the system, but they can’t! You can’t!” 

“I didn’t mean to do that. He has to know. I didn’t...” She said panicking.

“What are you talking about?” Damon asked genuinely confused.

“Mikael. He came to see me and he’s worried about a rebellion against him. He said he doesn’t believe in our story and wants me to make it look real. He threatened to hurt my family...”

“Don’t you think you should’ve mentioned that to me?! I have a family too!” Josie said looking at Hope, clearly upset. 

“I’m sorry...” Hope looks at her with pleading eyes. Josie can’t even keep her mad face for that long because she feels bad only looking at Hope being this upset. 

“Damon, just help us fix this, please.” Josie said.

“How would you want me to fix this?! This doesn’t end, girls. Wake up. It will never end. You’re under the public eyes. Under the Capitol’s eyes. This means you’ll never be free of tours and cameras. They will want to see every step of your love life.”

“So what do we do now?” Hope asked. She had stopped crying. She only felt sadness.

“You’re gonna keep going. You’re going to read Katherine’s notes and show them how much you love each other. Okay?” 

Both of them nodded. 

Damon sighed and looked at Hope. He placed a hand on her cheeks and caressed her gently. “Don’t lose it again baby, okay?”

Hope nodded lightly and then they walked away from there, ready to catch the train that would take them to another district.

A week passed and they visited each district and followed Damon’s and Katherine’s instructions. But they could feel the crowds getting angry. Trying to rise every time they looked at Hope and believed she could be the one that could change everything for them.

But Hope didn’t believe that. Hope wanted these people to stop thinking of her as a savior. She couldn’t be. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, she was just another pawn in the hands of the Capitol. In the hands of the President. 

A few days were left of the tour and Hope was feeling more and more stressed and anxious than she had ever been. The things she saw and heard every day were overwhelming her.

She thought that no one was buying their act. No one. And Mikael would come for her and everyone she loved.

She had been having the same nightmare for days now. She’s outside her house and the Peacekeepers are holding her, while her house burns down with her family in it. Freya, Keelin, Nik, Landon. 

She wakes up screaming every time. And every time Josie rushes into her room and asks her if she’s okay. She tells her it’s only a nightmare and then tells her to go. 

But after four times of having the same nightmare, she started feeling like it was real. 

She woke up screaming for the fifth night in a row. She was breathing heavily and looking around her scared.

Josie rushed into the room sooner than usual. Hope thought that maybe she wasn’t even sleeping anymore. Probably she had been sitting outside her room the whole night for days. 

“Another nightmare?” Josie asked her.

“The same one.” Hope said trying to slow down her breathing.

“Try to sing a song. It helps me when I can’t sleep sometimes.” Josie tells her before turning around to leave. 

“Josie wait.” 

The brunette stops and looks back at Hope.

“Can you stay with me?” 

Josie was surprised about the sudden request, but Hope didn’t have to ask her twice. 

“Of course.” 

She walked over Hope’s bed and lied down next to her while Hope cuddled in Josie’s arms as if she had been doing that forever. They stayed in silence for a moment. 

Hope felt a weird sense of peace and safeness in Josie’s arms. Her scent was delicate but intoxicating. Hope thought she would gladly stay like that forever.

“Do you ever have nightmares? Like..constantly the same nightmare?” Hope asks.

“Yeah, it happens.”

“Do you see them too?”

“Who?” 

“Your family in danger...the ones you killed. Do you see them?”

“My nightmares are usually about losing you.” 

Hope held her breath and raised her head from Josie’s chest to look at her and met brown eyes. They were close, so close. 

“Me?” She asks almost whispering.

“You.” 

“How...how do you move past it?” 

Josie smiles weakly and keeps looking at Hope almost in adoration.

“I don’t. I mean..the nightmare is always there, because the fear is. I only feel better when I see you’re okay.”

Hope smiled softly and rested her forehead on Josie’s and both of them closed their eyes for a moment. 

The only thing Hope could ask herself was what was Josie doing to her. Why did she suddenly feel better than she ever had in months by just breathing in her proximity. By just looking at her. 

If she knew that Josie would do so much good to her, she would’ve never stopped talking to her. 

“Could you...sing that song? Please?” Hope asked with a soft voice. 

Josie would normally feel uncomfortable to sing for other people. But Hope needed this. If Hope needed this, then she would do it.

They shared one last look and then Hope rested her head on Josie’s chest again. 

“Just close your eyes, the sun is going down  
You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now  
Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound

Don't you dare look out your window, darling everything's on fire  
The war outside our door keeps raging on  
Hold onto this lullaby even when the musics gone, gone

Just close your eyes, the sun is going down  
You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now  
Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound

Just close your eyes, you'll be alright  
Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound...”

That was probably the moment Hope realized that if it ever came another time to choose if saving herself or saving Josie, she would save her without hint of a doubt. 

But she was never going to say that out loud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song is Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift 🥺 
> 
> Writing them in this story has me crying more times than I can count, truly. 
> 
> I really hope you liked the chapter. Let me know about your thoughts. <33


	11. Chapter 11

The next few days were quite a disaster. The districts kept rebelling and they seemed angry even at Hope and Josie. They wanted them to fight, but Hope couldn’t do that. 

She knew that it was disappointing for anyone, probably everyone, who expected so much from her, but she couldn’t do what they wanted her to.

“Mikaelson is watching us. I don’t think he will be pleased with what he saw until now.” Damon said while drinking a sip of his milk and bourbon.

“You told us to stick to the notes. What do you want us to do?” Hope said.

“I don’t know. Honestly anything that could help.” 

“Maybe we should get married.” Josie suggested.

Hope almost chocked on her tea. “What?”

“That’s not a bad idea at all.” Damon said as if she had just enlightened him.

“How is that going to help?” Hope asked.

“If we’re in this forever, they’re going to wonder eventually. So it better be now, don’t you think?” Josie asked looking directly at Hope. 

She was honestly still lost. Her mind was stopped at the get married part.

Hope doesn’t even know how to call her feelings for Josie. How could she be ready to marry her? 

“I..” 

She doesn’t have the time to talk because Katherine jumps in the conversation.

“We need to make an announcement!” 

-

A few hours later the news of their upcoming wedding was already out in all the Capitol and the District. And they also had to attend the party at the Presidential Palace. 

Marcel outdid himself with the outfits for both of them. They looked stunning and the finest people of the Capitol were glancing at her from every corner. They felt their eyes only on them. 

Five minutes in that place and Hope could already feel the headache kicking in. 

Walking between all those weird people, Hope felt lighter as soon as she felt Josie’s hand slip into hers. 

Katherine made them meet some people she said were very important. But Hope didn’t get what did they even do to be considered that. They were simply rich.

Everyone in there were rich and spoiled people, full of vanity and hypocrisy.

“Here, try one of these.” A man offered to Josie. 

“Oh no, I’m already full. Thank you.”

“Drink this then. This makes you vomit, so you can eat the rest and not miss anything.” The girl said giggling as if it was something amusing.

Josie stared at her speechless for a moment, but luckily Hope saved her from the awkwardness of the moment. 

“I think I’d like to dance.” 

She offers her hand to Josie who takes it gladly after a moment of hesitation. Then they move closer to each other as they walk at the centre of the room. 

“I can’t believe these people. I can’t stand being in here for much longer.” Josie said disgusted.

“Relax. Don’t get upset. He’s watching us.” She whispered.

“But this dress is killing me. Why did Marcel have to close the button right on my throat?” She said struggling to breathe properly. 

Hope suddenly stopped dancing and frees the first button on Josie’s throat, slightly exposing her chest. 

Chills run through her skin as her fingers brushes on Josie’s neck. 

Their eyes locked together as Hope noticed that Josie was looking at her with wide eyes. Maybe she had gone too far. 

“Sorry.” Hope said with a shaky voice. 

_Why was it even shaking?_

“No it’s..thank you. I feel better.” 

Hope smiled softly but then they were interrupted by someone. 

“Hope Mikaelson. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” 

Hope looked at him in confusion, but the man introduced himself before she could ask.

“I don’t think you remember me from the last time we‘ve seen each other.” 

Hope frowns. He chuckles.

“I’m Finn. Your...uncle. And the new Head Gamemaker.” 

_You’ve got to be kidding me,_ Hope thought.

How does she have half of her remaining family constantly trying to find ways to get to her? 

Josie was just as shocked as Hope. It showed, even if she didn’t say anything.

“You..” Hope only managed to said, but he interrupts her.

Then he offered his hand to Hope. “May I?” 

After a little hesitation Hope glanced at Josie and nodded to let her know she could go. Hope knew this was going to be weird and probably really bad.

“Are you enjoying the party?” He tried to change the subject.

“Why are you doing this?” She doesn’t.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, he killed your brothers. Your sister. They were your family and he...” She started rambling getting upset.

“Look, Hope. There are things about family you still have to learn. Sometimes Always and Forever doesn’t last. My family wronged me, but I can tell you I didn’t have any part in their deaths.” 

“Is that supposed to make it better? How can you be okay with this?!” 

He smiles. “See, I admire how noble you are Hope. You have all the best qualities of my brothers and sisters in you. I might say their flaws too. For example, I can feel your grip on my hand very tight right now.”

Hope pressed her lips together and released his hand. He smiles again.

“That is your father.”

“Don’t you dare talk about my father.” She says angrily. 

“Shh, come on now. Let’s not...give a scene here. Hope, if I’m here, it’s for you.” 

“Me?” 

“You inspired me. I believe the next games will be fun.” 

“Fun?! That’s your idea of fun? It’s a slaughter!” She raises her voice.

“Shh, Hope...” 

“Hope? Is everything okay?” 

Josie came right on time to stop the worse from happening and Hope was glad for that. 

Hope put some distance between her and Finn while glancing at him with a hateful look. 

“Yes. We’re done here.” 

Hope excused herself and walked next to Josie, finally letting out a breath of relief. Josie places both hands on her arms to calm her down.

“Hey, keep it together, okay?” She says softly.

“It’s not possible that half of my family are murderers and they even dare to justify what they do.” She says still agitated.

“Hey. They’re not your family. Freya is. You don’t know these people. Your family was better than this. You are better than this.” 

Hope raises her gaze to meet Josie’s soft look and suddenly her anger disappears. She takes a deep breath and nods.

“Thank you.” 

“Yeah. Anytime.” She smiles softly. 

In that same moment Mikael appeared on the balcony with a drink in his hand. 

“Tonight, on the last day of their tour, I want to celebrate our two Victors. Both of them the embodiment of love and sacrifice. And we wish them the best for what’s to come.” He looked at Hope with a wicked smile. “Congratulations on your engagement. May your love survive anything, for your Always and Forever.” 

He raised the glass and everyone did the same before drinking. Hope’s hateful gaze was still fixed on him. She was sure he was planning something. She knew he wanted to get rid of her. She just didn’t know how.

-

Later that night Mikael was in his big living room talking to Finn. 

“I want her dead.” He said with his gritted teeth.

“At the right time and in the right way, father.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Punish everyone because of her actions. Take away the little they have. Double the executions, burn down their homes. Make them fear you.”

“Fear won’t work as long as they have hope.”

“They won’t. She won’t be able to do anything about it. And what will happen when people ask for her help but she won’t be able to do something about it?”

“They will blame her and take her down themselves.”

“Exactly.” 

-

Hope was finally back at the District and the first thing she did was being with her family. She needed familiar faces. She needed the ones she loved more than ever.

After being with her family, she went to find Landon who was walking down the road with all the other men coming back from the mines. 

She jumped in his arms and hugged him tight. 

“When did you come back?”

“Can we go somewhere else?” She asked him.

He nodded and then they walked up the hill as they used to do. They sat there watching as the sun went down and stayed silent for a while.

“I can’t stay here. Maybe we should leave, all of us.” Hope said breaking the silence.

“You mean us all plus your fiancée?”

Hope sighed. “He threatened to hurt all of you. I can’t put you in danger. You guys are all I have.”

“Shouldn’t the wedding be enough to stop him?”

“Apparently not.”

Landon stayed silent for a while, then he spoke again. “Do you really love her?” 

It was like Hope’s brain couldn’t even process the meaning of that sentence. She didn’t know that kind of love, she only knew the love you have for family. 

Hope raised her gaze to look at him. “Why are you asking me this?”

“Do you love me?” He asked instead.

“You know I love you.” 

“How?”

“Landon...”

“It doesn’t matter. We can’t leave. People look up to you. They need you, Hope. The Peacekeepers are shooting people in the streets again, burning down houses and shops...”

Hope placed her head into her hands. “This is all my fault.”

“You have to help them, Hope.” 

“I can’t.”

“Yes you can.” 

Suddenly the sound of gunshots caught their attention. 

They run down the hill faster than they could to reach the district and see what was happening. There was chaos. 

While Landon jumped on one of them to stop them from hurting a woman, Hope was helping another woman to walk away from there, since her leg was bleeding and she couldn’t walk. She had been there before, so she would never deny that help.  
Luckily the woman’s husband found them and said that he would take care of her.

But after a while Hope noticed that Landon wasn’t on the street anymore. And she heard the sound of people screaming and running away. 

She started running until she noticed a crowd of people standing in circle while a Peacekeeper was kicking someone almost unconscious on the ground.  
It was Landon.

She ran fast to place herself between him and the Peacekeeper.

“Don’t you dare lay another hand on him.” She said threateningly.

“Excellent, I’ll just kill you both without even touching you then.” He took out his gun and charged it, pointing it at Hope.

“Hey! Hey!” Damon puts himself between them. “Commander, there must be a misunderstanding. See, I don’t think you want to hurt the girl. She’s the Victor of District 12, Hope Mikaleson. Darling of the Capitol.”

“She’s an agitator.”

“The girl has anger issues, okay? I’ll make sure she doesn’t interfere with your authority again.” 

“Go away. Now.” He said in a warning tone.

They carried Landon on their shoulders and took him home, while the Commander kept screaming around the District.

“Aunt Freya?!” Hope yelled as they walked through the door. 

“What happened?”

“He kicked him everywhere. His face, his stomach...” 

They laid him down the couch and Freya placed a hand on his torso.

“He has a few broken ribs, maybe stomach pain. I can give him something for that.” 

“I’ll go get something for the scratches on the face.” Keelin said. 

In that same moment Nik and Josie walked into the room together, laughing at each other before they could notice what was happening. 

Hope didn’t miss the sight of that, but right now she was too focused on Landon. 

“What happened?” Josie asked worried.

“Peacekeepers.” 

“Can I help?” Nik asked.

“Why don’t you bring some of your softest pillows?” Hope asked him nicely. Nik nodded and ran upstairs. 

Landon slept for about six hours before he woke up. Hope was right next to him.

“Hey.”

“Hey, welcome back.” Hope said with a small smile.

“Didn’t you leave yet?”

“I lost the train.” 

Landon smiled. “Poor you.” 

“I’m not the one with broken ribs.” 

“I’m still lucky.” He mumbled.

“How?” 

“You’re still here.”

She smiled and ran a hand through his hair and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. 

“Get some rest.”

-

The next morning Josie woke up quite early and came down the living room to see Hope sitting asleep on the floor with her back against the marble of the fireplace.

She walked over her and tried to wake her up gently. 

“Hope?” She caressed her cheek. “Hope? Wake up.”

Hope did a small jump as she opened her eyes and suddenly relaxed when she saw that is was only Josie. 

“You’ve been here all night?” 

Hope nodded and rubbed her eyes. 

“Why don’t you go to bed for a while? I’ll stay with him.” 

“Are you sure?” She asked with a sleepy voice.

“Of course. Come here.” Josie helped her to stand up slowly and waited for Hope to steady herself before leaving her. 

“Can you walk by yourself or do I need to carry you?” Josie mocked her while pulling a strand of Hope’s hair behind her ear.

“I don’t need anyone to carry me. Thank you very much.” Hope said and disappeared in the hallway.

Josie smiled softly and then sat down by the fireplace glancing at Landon. She felt bad for him. But she also felt kind of jealous, which was stupid, but still. 

She wished she could be the one Hope cared about openly. That she didn’t have to act for the cameras in order to get her attention. That she could be like him, aware that she cared about him. 

Josie didn’t know what was in Hope Mikaelson’s head. But she wondered for sure if she was in it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Mikael-Finn duo is something so powerful I didn’t even think about until my friend suggested me and I did a few changes to make it work 👀 let’s thank her beautiful mind for that <33
> 
> I hope you liked the chapter. More hosie moments to come, I promise!!


	12. Chapter 12

When Hope woke up later that morning she felt someone breathing next to her. Actually they were blowing right at her face.

She opened her eyes to see Nik smiling at her amused and she couldn’t help but smile herself, even though she was still half asleep.

“You’re a pain in the ass.”

“You’re boring.”

“Excuse me?” She asked feeling offended.

“Did you know Josie can sing? She stayed with me and sang to me last night.”

Hope suddenly remembered the moment she saw the two of them together the day before. Her heart softened.

“Yeah I knew.” 

“Did she sing for you too?”

“Once.” Hope remembered. 

“You know, I don’t think you should stay here Hope.” He suddenly said.

“What do you mean?”

“You should leave. I don’t want them to hurt you. Me and moms will be fine.”

“I can’t leave you and moms. We’re family.”

He smiled. “But you should smile more.”

“I can only smile around you.” She tickles him but he slaps her hand to stop her. 

“That’s not true.” 

He looked at her as if he was trying to hint something. Hope wasn’t going to deal with this right now, so she runs a hand through Nik’s curls and jumps out of bed. 

“Come down for breakfast when you’re done crushing on Josie.” 

“I’m not crushing on Josie!” Nik yelled.

Hope kept walking down the hallway with a small smile on her face. 

-

“That girl keeps causing me problems. I’m this close to eliminate her. Along with the previous winners.”

“Why is that father?” Finn asks.

“They all feel powerful enough to defy me now, because she did. Because my bastard niece did it. I feel disgusted to even call her that.”

“We can solve this once and for all. And I think you’ll like my idea.”

\- 

Later that night, as everyone were home and watching the announcement of the President on Tv, Hope glanced at Damon who looked unusually worried.

“Since when do you wear that face?” Hope asked him.

“What face?” 

“The worried face. I’m only used to your drunk face.”

“Very funny. Now shut up.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 75th Hunger Games. This year, on this 75th anniversary of our defeat of the rebellion, we celebrate the 3rd Quarter Quell as a reminder that the power of the Capitol cannot be questioned or challenged. On this, the 3rd Quarter Quell Games, the tributes will be reaped between the previous Victors of each District. Regardless of age, health...”

“No!” Nik screamed upset.

“What does this mean?” Freya asked in shock. 

“Is he serious?!” Katherine yells.

Hope’s brain suddenly went off. She felt as if she was living that nightmare all over again. It was real. She felt scared again. Then fear was replaced by anger. Then fear again, but not for herself.

The only thing that she was sure about, was that this time she was going to die. If he wanted to play like this to end it, she would. 

But she would make sure that Josie was the one that got to live.

When everyone was asleep and Damon was in the kitchen getting drunk, Hope went to talk to him. 

“There you are. Here to ask for a favor?” He said raising his glass in the air before drinking.

“Give me that.” Hope took the bottle from the table and took a sip of bourbon. Damon looked at her impressed.

“You‘ve really lost it then.” He said resting his back against the chair.

“I also need that favor.”

“Well, get in line. You’re the second person asking for a favor from me.”

“What do you mean?” 

“Josie asked me to volunteer for you. And if you were to be picked to help you in the games with everything I’ve got. So that you can live.”

“No. Don’t listen to her. She lives, I die. There’s no other way this is going to go.”

“Because you said so?”

Hope kept her eyes fixed on the wall and stayed silent.

“This is what it took for you to realize you care about her?” He asked sincerely.

“No. I always have.” She finally admits.

“Well let me say then, your timing is impeccable.”

“I want her to live, Damon.” Her voice was broken as if she was about to cry. And although Damon was drunk, he could hear how almost desperate she sounded.

“Okay. But you know she could volunteer if I get picked. There’s nothing I can do to stop her.”

“I know. But while we’re in there...I don’t want to come out alive. I know you don’t like me, but this is the only thing I will ever ask of you.”

“Who said I don’t like you?”

“You all have a soft spot for Josie.” She smiled.

“Well? You have a soft spot for Josie. You’re willing to die for her. I’d say you like Josie more than you like yourself too.” 

Hope kept silent. Giving voice to her feelings wasn’t going to do any good. It didn’t matter what she felt, it only mattered that Josie lived.

“But I like you too, Mikaelson.” Damon says.

-

The next day was the day of the reaping. The whole district was there but this time things would be easier. No one would be in danger. 

Luckily both Hope and Josie said their goodbyes to their families in the morning, so that they wouldn’t have to do it after and make it worse than it already was.

They were standing on the podium side by side, and Damon next to Josie, while Katherine was at the centre to pick up the cards from the glass. 

“The first tribute for the 75th Hunger Games and the 3rd Quarter Quell is...Hope Mikaelson.” Katherine said in a sad voice.

Hope kept staring at her aunts and Nik, trying to stay strong enough not to cry, even giving them a reassuring smile. 

“The second tribute is...Damon Salvatore.” 

“I volunteer.” Josie instantly said.

Hope closed her eyes and damned the girl for doing this. She wasn’t supposed to do that.

“You just can’t shut up when you have to, can you?” Damon whispered to her.

“Apparently not.” She said and walked next to Katherine, facing the crowd again.

“The Tributes from District 12. Hope Mikaelson and Josette Saltzman.” Katherine said with a not so cheerful voice. 

She hated this as much as them. They had become a team. And losing one of them would be heartbreaking for her, as much as she pretended not to care.

When they were finally on the train, Hope walked into the wagon train were Josie was reading and sat down in front of her, glancing at her with a serious face, her arms crossed on her chest.

Josie felt Hope’s gaze on her and raised her eyes to look at her face, who looked almost like the one Lizzie has when she’s mad at her. 

“What?”

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

“But I did.”

“Why Josie? Do you have a death wish? This is not a nice tour in the Capitol we’re having.” 

“I couldn’t let you do this alone.” She said lowering her voice.

“What was the point of me saving your life once if you were going to put yourself in danger again?”

“Because there’s no point of living it if I just stay at home and hope for you to come out alive from there again, Hope. We did this together once, we can do it again.” 

Hope was trying hard not to cry because she swore that she wouldn’t lose control, not once. But Josie believed they would survive this together, except they couldn’t.

“You’re so stubborn, I hate it.” She said frustrated. 

Josie smiled. But Hope frowned and got even more mad.

“Don’t smile at me. There’s nothing funny about it.” But as she said it, she automatically went softer. 

She fought hard not to look at her and got up to get a drink. At the same time Damon and Katherine came in.

“So, let’s start with the heads up, shall we?” Damon said as took a seat.

“Okay.” Hope said after sipping her drink.

“Everything will be different this year. The training center, the tributes living quarters and of course, the arena. You’ll be facing the Favorites of the Capitol, some of them professional killers, others masterminds. You’re going to need allies, so try to make friends.”

“Friends?” Josie frowns.

“These people all know each other. They don’t know you two. So you need to be friends with them if you want to have a higher chance to survive.”

“I wouldn’t be able to trust any of them.” Hope said with her arms crossed.

“You don’t need to trust them, you need them to keep you alive.”

“What if they try to kill me? Or Josie?” 

“Then find someone trustworthy.” 

Damon took the remote and turned on the Tv showing them the Tributes.

“Tristan and Aurora De Martel. Brother and Sister. District 1. They’re the Capitol’s favorites and ruthless.” 

He goes on.

“Rayna Cruz and Lucien Castle. District 2. She can bite hard and throw a sword at your head from fifty meters. He likes to choke people to death.” 

He goes on again.

“Dorian and Emma. He’s a physics, she‘s pretty smart. They would be good allies.”

He goes on.

“The Machado twins. They’re good at hiding. They move alone but always know how to find each other. They won hiding until the end of the games at the age of fifteen. Not a real threat.” 

And lastly.

“Finnick Odair.” Josie says.

“You know him?” Hope asks.

“Well...my sister has a crush on him. He seems kind of a peacock though.” 

“He is. He won the games at fourteen, the youngest ever. He’s very much loved by the Capitol’s ladies. But he’s also good at fighting. And um...” He mumbled nervously.

“What?” Hope frowned.

“His partner. I think Josie might be familiar with her.” 

“What do you mean?” Josie asked. 

He pressed the button to go on and a short haired blonde woman appeared. Josie didn’t recognize her at first, but then she did. 

“Elizabeth Forbes.” 

Hope focused on the photo and then on Josie’s face. She looked upset and Hope didn’t like that.

“Who is she?”

“She..she’s my grandmother.” Josie whispered.

“How is she there and not at the 12?” 

“Because when my mom was pregnant she left District 4 to go with my dad, who lived at the 12. And my grandma..she stayed there. I’ve never met her. My mom talks about her sometimes. She has a photo with her on the nightstand.”

“Well, she won the games once. You were little to see that though.” Damon said. 

Hope noticed that this was kind of overwhelming for Josie. Her family being in the games surely was not what she was expecting. 

She wanted to talk to her but they had no time, since they were already at the Capitol and had to get ready for the Ceremony. 

Hope was standing next to her chariot, she was caressing one of the horses but her eyes were on Josie who was talking to her grandmother for the first time. Hope wished she could do something to avoid Josie the pain of losing family, but she couldn’t.

“Hope Mikaelson, they told me you were just as stunning in person.” Finnick approached her with his bare chest and a weird wild costume. Hope smiled forcefully.

_Make friends, remember._

“Finnick. I heard about you. You’re like Capitol City’s little bitch.” She gave him the biggest fake smile. 

Finnick bursted into laughter. “You’re funny. I like you, Hope. Maybe we should partner up.” 

“I don’t know. It depends. Can I trust you?” 

“Oh..I don’t know, Hope.” He walked closer and whispered to her face. “Can I trust you?” 

Hope gritted her teeth and held her breath, fearing that Finnick could feel how her anger was rising through her breathing. 

“Why don’t you tell me a secret?” Finnick asked.

“Me? A secret?”

“I believe you have lots of them. I usually know people’s secrets. What’s yours?”

Hope’s face tightened. “I don’t have secrets.”

“Weakness then.” 

“I’m guessing by your questions that you’re not here to ask for an alliance, huh?” Hope said losing her patience a little.

“You’re wrong. I want to be on the winning side and I think that we can work together to come out of the games alive.”

“There’s no coming out alive. Not this time.” 

“Hope? It’s starting.” 

Luckily Josie interrupted them and Finnick stepped back still smiling at Hope. Josie looked between them in confusion.

“Think about it Mikaelson.” He turned around and winked at Josie, then walked away.

“What did he want?” Josie asked.

“To know my secrets. And an alliance.”

“Oh well, he must work harder than this to have both. I barely had an alliance with you after three days.” 

Hope couldn’t help but smile. “Listen...” She pointed a finger at her. 

“Oh don’t worry, I got over it.” Josie said smiling back and walking away to get on the chariot, leaving Hope standing there and smiling to herself. 

“Girls, remember, no smiles.” Katherine said.

Marcel handed Hope a small button to light their dresses with fire. 

“When you’re ready.” 

Hope smiled and mimed a thank you before turning her attention to the street. The audience was cheering loudly but it went louder as soon as their chariot rode under the lights and the cameras. 

At that point Hope believed it was a good time to give them a show. 

She pressed the button and suddenly both if their costumes were on fire. Completely on fire. The audience went crazy. 

Hope kept her gaze fixed on Mikael, who was watching her from the balcony with a hateful look. Hope stared back with just as much hate.

She wasn’t afraid of him. He had to know that. Like she wasn’t afraid of fire anymore. Before, she couldn’t bear even the feeling of fake fire, but now she enjoyed it. It made her feel powerful. 

He could try anything on her, but she would fight to expose him and ruin him as much as she could. But she would make sure to protect her family. 

When the Ceremony ended Damon introduced them to two of his friends, probably sponsors. Then they walked back to the residence. 

While the elevator was about to close someone held it and walked in.

The blonde girl glanced at Josie with a weird smirk that Hope couldn’t help but notice. She frowned and looked at Josie, who clearly had her attention somewhere else.

“I’m sorry. But my feet are killing me.” She took off her shoes and kicked them aside.

“My stylist is so tasteless. This dress would only look good on a grandma. I deserve way better than this.” She unbuttoned the buttons on her chest leaving it completely exposed. 

She turns around to face Josie and gives her a seductive look. “What do you think?”

Josie’s cheeks suddenly flushed red. Meanwhile Hope was staring at them with her lips pressed together, trying to keep her annoyance at bay.

“You..you mean about the dress?”

“Yes.” 

“I think you look great in it.” 

“Hm.” The girl had a thoughtful look. Then she turned around and moved her hair aside. “Can you unzip this?” 

Josie looked at Damon who nodded rapidly and Josie did so. Hope could swear she felt her blood boiling in her head. 

Then the girl completely removed her dress, standing in there naked in front of them.

“Do I still look great without it?” She said almost whispering to Josie’s face.

Meanwhile Josie was doing everything in her power to keep her eyes up and avoid to look at the girl. Suddenly she caught Hope’s not so pleased gaze and it was enough to shake every weird thoughts she might have had until now.

“I’m sure you do.” She said not knowing how to free herself from that uncomfortable position. 

The girl smiled and then glanced at Hope before the elevator stopped at her floor. She walked out leaving all her clothes there. 

“I hope you enjoyed the view.” 

The elevator closed and Damon chuckled amused. 

“That was Jade Mason. District 7.” 

Josie cleared her throat and let out a deep breath, then touched her hot cheeks with the palm of her hands. 

“What? Too hot in here?” Hope said with a hint of irritation.

Josie only glanced at her for a moment but luckily the elevator had arrived, so she stepped out quickly before she had to give an answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys Jade really needs a last name 😭 I figured I would just go like that. And I decided to keep Finnick’s character because...FINNICK. I mean I love him so much and he’s irreplaceable so this one is very personal to me 😂 
> 
> jealous!hope we love to see 👀 
> 
> Let me know what you think about the chapter.
> 
> AND OH, i published a little thing i wrote a while ago for fun it’s really meh but it’s a stydia/hosie parallel from teen wolf’s 3x23 if you know what i mean 👀 go check it out if you want to. 
> 
> okay BYE


	13. Chapter 13

The next morning they had their first training with all the other tributes. As they walked into the room everyone looked at them as they do the same, studying their skills and their strength.

Luckily Hope had spent months in the woods shooting at turkeys and squirrels, so she was a bit more skilled than she was before. She needed a killer skills. Even though she didn’t want to be one of them, she had to. 

None of them were going to show her mercy after all. 

She noticed Josie approaching her grandmother. She figured that they were going to have Finnick and Liz as allies after all. 

Hope noticed Dorian and Emma trying to shoot an arrow to the targets in front of them. Hope walked closer to give them some advice.

“You should lower the bow. Bring it closer to your face. You can see better where the arrow points at.” 

Dorian turns around to look at her surprised. He knew who she was of course.

“Thank you.” He said kindly.

“You’re welcome. Maybe you should try with knives?” 

Emma smiled and looked at Hope. “It’s not that we can’t use the other weapons. But we wanted to use something that can help us without getting too much close to the others.”

“Well, I can help you with that then.” Hope smiled. 

She practiced with them and taught them how to use the bow and realized they were probably the only people in there who were not looking at her as a threat or as if she was a turkey to kill.

Hope moved her attention to the Gamemakers on the second floor of the room. 

“Did you notice that?” Dorian asked.

“Notice what?”

“There’s a force field separating us from them, as a glass. See there? You can see the shimmering.” He pointed at her the right side. 

“You’re right. It’s...probably my fault. I threw an arrow at them last year.”

“Wow. What are you planning for this year?” He joked.

“I’m still thinking about it.” She played along.

After the training, all of them were taken into a room were each of them waited for their turn for their individual tests. 

Hope was the last one to go in, probably to reserve the worst as last. She walked in and stood before Finn who was looking at her with a playful smile.

“Hope Mikaelson, you can show us what your skills are.” 

Hope took the colors and the brushes and started painting down the floor as her father taught her. She hasn’t done this in years, but hopefully it would still be effective.

After about thirty minutes, she finished the drawing and stood up. Just then Finn noticed that it was Pedro who she had painted on the floor. 

Hope looked at him with a challenging look and then walked out of the room.

She didn’t have to prove anything to them. To him. They knew what she was capable of. She could be a problem for them even without doing anything. They were already afraid of her. 

And they were right to be. 

-

“Good news. You have allies. That was easier than I thought huh.” Damon said sitting down the couch and stirring his legs on the coffee table.

Hope raised her eyebrow and sighed. 

“Be sweet, Mikaelson.”

“When have I ever been sweet?”

“I believe you can be.” 

She rolled her eyes and walked out of the room to go find Josie. She was so sure when she got up to go talk to her, but now she was standing outside her room unable to find the courage to knock.

She gritted her teeth, pressed her lips together and bit her bottom lip more than once. Maybe she stayed out there for about ten minutes. 

What was she thinking? What did she even wanted to tell her? She didn’t know honestly. She only felt the sudden need to see her. But she couldn’t bring herself to knock.

Then she walked away and went back to the living room, waiting for Marcel to come and prepare them for the Interviews of the night. 

-

“Thank you for being here for the eve of the 75th Hunger Games! Tonight, 24 of Panem’s greatest champions, will give us their ultimate goodbye. Except for one. It’s heartbreaking, I know. It will be a night full of emotions.” 

The interviews were quite entertaining, Hope thought. Jade suddenly started yelling about the President being a piece of something. Finnick left a message for his girlfriend. Others only bragged about themselves. 

When it was almost time for Hope to go on stage, she suddenly felt nervous, looking at her reflection in the mirror with what was supposed to be her wedding dress.

She almost even forgot about the wedding part, but as she looked at herself with that dress on, of course with some alterations made from Marcel, she felt as if she had missed something good.

Suddenly looking in the mirror she focused her eyes on someone who was staring at her silently. It was Josie. 

Hope didn’t turn around, she just kept looking at Josie through the mirror in front of her.

“You look beautiful, Hope.”

Hope smiled softly, then took a better look at Josie’s dress. “Was that supposed to be yours?” 

She had a similar white dress too. 

“Yeah. I guess we actually got to wear them after all.” Josie said sounding almost sad.

“Tell them we got married in secret.” Hope bursts out.

She finally turns around to meet Josie’s shocked gaze. 

“What?” She says in a small incredulous voice.

“Tell them we got married. They will be pleased with that.” Hope added.

Josie’s look suddenly seemed disappointed now. She nods and looks down her hands playing together. 

“Right. Okay.” She slowly walked away without even looking at Hope.

Hope tried to call her back but then let her go. She slaps herself on the forehead and sighs heavily. 

“Fuck. You’re so stupid. So stupid..” She whispers to herself. 

When it’s time for her to go on stage the audience seems to lose it as they see her walking with her wedding dress. 

“Hope Mikaelson, please don’t tell us this was supposed to be your wedding dress?” Caesar said excited.

Hope smiled sadly. “Yeah. It was supposed to be it. The President figured you all would want to see it.”

“And he was right!” 

The audience screamed.

“I believe we are missing someone. I think it’s only fair for me to bring her on stage right now, with you. Please Capitol City, welcome Josette!” 

The audience started cheering again as Josie walked on stage with a smile on her face. Hope couldn’t help but smile too. 

“Girls, we look at you and can’t help but get emotional. Am I right people?” 

Both of them smiled at the audience as Josie stepped closer to place an arm around Hope’s waist. 

Hope pretended that didn’t bother her at all.

“But we must say, we are a little disappointed on the wedding being cancelled, Josie.”

“Actually...we did get married. In secret. We wanted it to be intimate, just with our families.” 

Caesar’s jaw dropped. “So you two are married? You got married in these very dresses?” 

“Yes we did. Of course there is Marcel’s magic hands on both dresses, but it’s them.” Hope said smiling.

“Magic? Is it the kind of magic I think it is?”

Josie chuckled. “We can show you.” 

Josie suddenly grabbed Hope’s hand and held her close to Hope’s surprise. She didn’t know what she was doing. 

“Follow me, okay? Just keep spinning.” She whispered. 

Josie took her hand and started spinning her around over and over again, so that Hope’s dress was slowly getting on fire. Josie kept spinning her a while more until Hope’s entire white dress was fully burned out and a red dress appeared under it. 

When Hope stopped spinning she fell right into Josie’s arms, who was holding her tight and steady against her, but also staring at her lips. 

Hope’s entire world kept spinning. 

What Josie did wasn’t even humanly possible, she thought. 

“This is amazing! This is the best moment I’ve ever had the pleasure to witness in all these years. You two have our hearts, truly.” Caesar said as the audience clapped their hands at them.

Only when Hope believed the room had stopped moving she distanced herself from Josie and broke the contact. 

“Thank you to all our Tributes for being here tonight and gracing us with their last words. Goodnight everyone! And happy Hunger Games!” 

Later in the residence, Hope, Josie, Damon and Katherine sat around the couch in silence. Both Katherine and Damon were already half drunk. Hope and Josie had just started drinking instead.

“That was a good shot. The secret wedding.” He said looking at Josie.

“It was Hope’s idea.” 

“Really?” He said raising his eyebrow in surprise while looking at Hope, who aimed him to shut up with just a look.

“I will miss this. You all.” Katherine said. 

“Oh Kitty Kat, don’t get emotional please. Not you.” Damon said with a hint of disgust.

“I happen to like these two. Even more than I like you.”

“That goes both ways.” 

Both the girls chuckled. Then Damon raised his glass and they followed him along. 

“To you two. The girls on fire.” 

After a while Damon fell asleep on the couch and Katherine and Josie went to their room. Hope was still on the couch, already knowing she wouldn’t be able to sleep. 

She couldn’t stop thinking about the thousands ways she could protect Josie in there. She knew these games were going to be worse than the first ones. She knew that Mikael was going to do everything in his power to get to her. 

She got up and walked the hallway and stopped in front of Josie’s room for the second time tonight. She didn’t know why she immediately started panicking every time she got closer to the brunette, or even when there was a door separating them.

But to her own surprise, she knocked. She hoped Josie would be awake. 

She slowly opened the door and saw that the lights were off. There was only the light of the moon projecting on the ceiling enlightening Josie wrapped in the sheets.

She stirred and opened her eyes. She must have been sleeping. Hope felt bad for waking her up.

“Sorry, I didn’t think you were asleep.” She said in a soft voice.

“It’s okay. I wasn’t really. I was more like trying to.”

Hope kept standing on the door, unsure if to go in or just go back to her room. 

“You can’t sleep?” Josie asked in a sleepy voice.

“Not really. I haven’t even tried.” She smiled to herself.

“Come here.” Josie gestured to her placing a hand on the empty spot next to her. 

Hope felt weirdly relieved by her offer. She would normally panic, but somehow she felt the sudden need to be close to her. 

She laid down next to Josie and rested her head on her chest, while the brunette welcomed her in a tight embrace. 

Hope could feel Josie’s heartbeat under her ear. She wondered how the girl could keep it so steady when they were this close. Hope could never. 

“I don’t want any allies in the arena. I don’t trust them.” Hope said in a small voice.

“Do you trust me?” Josie almost whispered.

“Only you.” 

“Okay. Then it’s you and me.” 

They fell asleep like that after not long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> then it’s you and me 🥺


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First I wanted to thank you all for all the comments you leave and you should know that I truly appreciate each one of them. Thank you for trusting me with the story and I hope you won’t be disappointed as it goes on. But I’ll try to make sure you won’t be. <33
> 
> Enjoy the chapter. :)

“Thank you Damon, for everything.” 

Hope was standing into the room where the tube of glass would take her to the arena. She was ready. She had quite the time to put her mind into it. 

Everything was going to go how she intended to.

“Any last advice?” Hope asked him. 

“I would say stay alive, but I feel like that’s not what you want.”

“I’ll try to stay alive as long as I need to.” 

He nodded and stayed silent. Hope called at him again.

“Damon. Don’t let me down, please?”

“I’ll do whatever it takes.” 

“Thank you.”

“While you’re in there, don’t forget who the real enemy is. Stick with your allies, okay?” 

Hope nodded. She didn’t want any allies. But she couldn’t argue with Damon about that right now. 

When he walked out, Marcel came in with a warm smile on his face that made Hope smile back instantly. She hugged him tight and tried to hold back the tears. 

“Thank you Marcel, for everything.”

“I just made you look good.” He joked.

“It wasn’t just that, but thank you. And one last thing...” 

Hope was about to take off her necklace to give it to him, so that he would give it back to Nik when it was time. But he stopped her.

“You don’t need me to take that. You will survive this again. You’ll find a way, I’m positive.” 

But she wouldn’t. Hope wanted to say that she couldn’t survive this. Because it meant that Josie wouldn’t and she wasn’t going to allow that. 

She only smiled and then jumped into the tube and waited for the launch. 

Marcel kept standing there admiring her.

“Twenty seconds to the launch.” The radio voice said.

Suddenly three Peacekeepers walked in and took Marcel before her eyes. They started punching him and slamming his head on the floor.

Hope started screaming but the voice from behind the glass sounded muffled. There was no use in screaming, but she kept doing it while punching the glass, who clearly wouldn’t break. 

She felt powerless. 

Suddenly one of them made Marcel bow down on his knees and shot a bullet into his head. 

Hope stopped breathing. She felt her body giving up. The tears had stopped. She felt like it was all a nightmare. It had to be.

It was. But she was awake.

Suddenly it all went dark. Only then she started gasping for air and tried to recover herself. She had to stop shaking. 

As soon as she saw the light again, her eyes wandered to scan the area around her. 

They were in the middle of the water. Each of them separated by a long line of rocks as if it was a large round pool, with the metal house of supplies on the mountain rocks in the middle. 

“Let the 75th Hunger Games begin. May the odds be ever in your favor.” 

As the countdown ended every tribute jumped in the water and Hope did the same. She didn’t even know she was capable of swimming this fast. 

It took less than two minutes to reach the mountain of rocks. She was breathing heavily. Her eyes soon landed on the bow and the arrows placed on the boxes. 

She quickly grabbed it and shot an arrow at Matt Donovan, District 5. Then she walked behind the metal house but found her way blocked by Rayna Cruz.

She threw her sword at Hope but she managed to get down before she could catch her. Then she walked backwards and tried the other way, but found herself facing Lucien Castle, District 2. 

She didn’t have time to react and back away that he was already trying to strangle her. She tried to free herself from his grip but he had way too much strength.

Hope fought to breathe as much as she could and suddenly she felt the grip loosen, then Lucien fell slowly into the water with an axe in his back. 

Finnick was on the other side looking at her. 

“You’re welcome, Mikaelson!” He shouts.

“Have you seen Josie?!” She yelled still coughing and trying to catch air. 

He shook his head and kept jumping on the rocks to put some distance between himself the others. Hope couldn’t do that yet.

She had to find Josie.

“Hope! She’s here!” Finnick called at her and Hope followed his voice. 

She saw Josie fighting a tribute from District 6, Nora. She still had no weapon and was holding her back with her arms and kicks, while the girl was beating her with nunchaku, but apparently Josie couldn’t even feel the pain. 

Hope pointed the bow trying to aim at Nora, but both the girls kept moving and Hope couldn’t risk hurting the wrong person.

Just before she could be sure of shooting, both of them fell into the water. 

When they reappeared to surface Nora was behind the brunette and was using the nunchaku to strangle Josie. 

At that point Hope panicked and started running towards them. 

“Finnick! Do something!” She yelled. 

As he was trying to get to Nora, suddenly Josie gives her a head bang that makes Nora lose her grip on her. 

Before Finnick could do something Josie was holding the nunchaku and strangling her, also trying to keep her head underwater to make it faster. 

And she did.

After a few seconds Nora was dead and Finnick was helping Josie getting out of the water. 

Hope didn’t have the time to take a breath of relief that Liz was warning her about someone behind her. 

She placed an arrow on the bow and with a quick movement turned around and kneeled down, sticking the arrow in a guy from District 8 through his chest without even actually shooting it. 

Hope quickly freed herself from the weight of the dead body and started walking towards the shore where Finnick, Liz and Josie where waiting for her.

“Run Hope! Come on!” Finnick urged her. 

As Hope arrived on the beach they ran into the woods trying to get as far as they could from the other Favorites. After a while they stopped to catch their breath.

“It’s so hot.” Hope said.

“We need to find water.” Liz suggests.

Suddenly the cannons started shooting. 8 times. 8 dead.

Finnick smiled widely. 

“They’re not fireworks, you know.” Josie said. 

“That’s even better. Because if they die, that means I’m a step closer to survive and go back to the love of my life.” 

“We all have people we care about.” 

“Most of the others don’t. And I don’t care.” 

“Good to know.” Hope said irritated and throwing him a hard look.

They throw one last glance at each other and then he kept walking. They followed.

“I know he says..things. But he doesn’t stab in the back of his allies. And I wouldn’t let him.” Liz says to both girls.

Hope only nods in understanding and then Liz moves ahead with Finnick, leaving her and Josie behind side by side.

“Try to work with him.” Josie tells her.

“I can’t trust him.”

“You never trust anyone, Hope.” Josie says a little more aggressively than she meant to. Hope glances at her almost hurt. Josie seems to notice it and instantly feels bad.

“Just try, okay? We need them.” Josie says still trying to avoid Hope’s gaze.

She walked faster to keep up with Finnick and Liz. The path became steeper.

Every time Hope looked ahead of her, she automatically looked for Josie, following her every movement. She felt almost pathetic, trying to protect someone who probably didn’t want protection. Trying to save someone who didn’t want to be saved. 

But how could she ignore the constant impulse to keep the girl safe? 

Hope stopped for a moment to ear the noises around them. She felt an unusual buzzing, for being in a tropical forest. It didn’t sound like an insect, but more like electricity.

She looked ahead of her and saw Josie walking ahead of everyone. Then Hope saw it. The trembling she learned about during training.

“Josie no! Stop!” 

But Josie had already stepped too far and suddenly she bumped into the force field and flew across the air, falling on the ground passed out. 

Hope ran to her before anyone else could. 

“Josie?! Josie! Open your eyes!” 

She wasn’t reacting. Hope panicked even more. She tried to take her pulse but there was none. 

“She’s not breathing. She’s..no. No no no..Josie!” She started crying.

“Let me.” 

Finnick pushed Hope away from her and started reanimating Josie. It was probably thirty seconds. Josie was dead for thirty seconds and Hope was already feeling like she’d failed the girl.

Suddenly the brunette opened her eyes and took a deep breath. Hope cupped her face in her hands and looked at her closely, still crying.

“You’re okay. Oh God. Are you okay?”

Josie coughed and smiled weakly.

“Was that a firework?” Josie says with a hoarse voice. 

Hope chuckled between tears and rested their foreheads together. 

“You stopped breathing. You were dead...” 

“And you still didn’t leave me like that.” She said smiling.

“Never.” Hope whispered while she kept caressing her face. 

Then their eyes met and Hope distanced herself. 

“Can you stand?” 

“I think so.” 

“Come here.” 

Hope helped her stand up and then held her tight, realizing that even in the middle of the forest Josie had that perfume that was only hers, and that Hope could remember from their times together. 

“We should camp here for now. We’re far enough. I can take the first watch.” Liz suggests. 

Hope stayed silent and so did Josie and Finnick, so probably they all agreed on something for once. 

While Hope was laying down under the tree she heard a weird sound. Suddenly something landed next to her. 

She reached it to open the metallic box and found a spile inside. She smiled reading Damon’s card. 

_Drink and stop being a bitch._

Hope got up and placed the spile inside a tree and waited for the water to start running down.

“Hey! There’s water.” 

After all of them were hydrated and felt safe enough, both Hope and Finnick tried to take some hours of sleep before it was their turn on watch.

Josie and Liz were sitting side by side in silence, looking at the darkness all around them. It was so dark that Josie could almost picture all the monsters watching her and feel scared.

Luckily Liz started talking and that distracted her from those images.

“She was desperate when she heard your heart stopped.” 

Josie looked at Hope’s sleeping figure from afar and then back at Liz.

“Yeah. In the last year she saved my life more times than I can count.”

“I think you know how she wants this do end, right?”

Of course she knew.

“I know. What she probably doesn’t know is that I want the same thing.” 

“You want her to live.” Liz stated.

“Yeah. But I’m afraid that it will be hard to keep her from doing stupid things to keep me alive instead. She’s so stubborn.” Josie said smiling lightly. 

“That’s how love works.” Liz said smiling.

_Love?_

Josie wanted to say that Hope didn’t love her. That their relationship was complicated and they were barely friends. But somehow they cared enough about each other to want the other to stay alive. 

Hope couldn’t be in love with her. If anything, she had a martyr complex that made her want to sacrifice herself for others. 

But if someone asked her if she loved Hope, the answer would be yes.

She did love her. Even when she wasn’t watching.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two more to the end of part 2.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you’re gonna love this

The next morning, Hope woke up after her second round of sleep and glanced at the others laying next to her. 

So much for staying on watch.

Her gaze fell on Josie who was right in front of her. She couldn’t hide the smile at the sight of the brunette sleeping peacefully. She wonders how Josie could seem so peaceful even while they were in that hell hole.

She removes a strand of hair that was covering Josie’s face and then brushes her fingers on her cheek. 

Apparently Josie was a light sleeper, since she instantly widened her eyes and grabbed Hope’s hand squeezing it tight.

“Ouch!” 

But Josie soon realizes it was Hope and not someone trying to kill her. She instantly loosens the grip.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry! I thought you were one of them.” She apologizes. 

“You wish.” Hope says while massaging her hand.

Josie smiles and lies down again.

“Yeah actually.”

“Shut up.” Hope smiles back. 

Josie keeps smiling while Hope‘s attention is still on her hand. But she still feels a pair of eyes on her. 

“What do you have to smile about?” 

“How long have you been staring at me?”

Normally, Hope would panic and run away from the conversation, instead she rolls her eyes but still can’t help to hide a smile. Not when Josie smiles at her like that.

“I wasn’t staring at you.”

“You weren’t?” 

“No.” 

“But..why are you blushing then?”

“Dear god, Josie...” Hope says in exasperation, hoping she would just stop this, but Josie was having too much fun apparently. 

She gets up to hide the blush on her cheeks and starts collecting her stuff, while Josie is chuckling on the ground.

Hope turns around with a scolding face, but still smiling.

“Are you done?” 

Josie was still laughing at her when her eyes catch something behind Hope, seeing some sort of fog coming from behind her. Her face becomes serious again.

“What’s that?” Josie asked. 

Hope turns around and frowns at the sight of the fog.

How can there be fog in a tropical forest? 

She leaned a hand to touch it and immediately started screaming while she felt her hand burning. 

“It’s poisoned! We gotta get out of here!” 

Finnick and Liz instantly woke up and started dragging themselves away.  
The four of them started running fast while the fog kept reaching them even faster than they could escape it. 

It reached Finnick and Josie and both of them groaned in pain as their skin got poisoned and burned. Hope was way ahead of her but came back to grab Josie and push her ahead, so that she was behind her and could guide her where to go.

“It’s coming from the sides too!” Liz yelled.

It kept reaching them. Finnick and Liz were screaming in pain and they started losing their strength since the fog had reached them completely from behind.

Meanwhile Josie stumbled in a branch and fell on the ground. At that point the fog started to surround her and she was screaming like she never had before.

Both Hope and Liz caught her at the same time and although they kept getting poisoned by the fog reaching them, they managed to grab her and carry her. 

“Finnick! Where are you!?” Liz yelled. 

He wasn’t answering. 

Liz saw him struggling to walk. 

“Finnick! Keep going!” She yelled again.

“Go help him! I’ve got her.” Hope told Liz.

As they were about to get surrounded again, they lost their balance and started rolling down a steep descent until they stopped and almost couldn’t move.

They felt like giving up. But Hope wasn’t going to. 

She got up and tried to take Josie with her too.

“Josie please help me. Walk with me.” 

She wasn’t. Hope knew she was trying, but Josie was too much poisoned to do something. 

As Hope glanced behind her to look for Finnick and Liz, she couldn’t see them.

It couldn’t be. They had to be there.

“Finnick?! Liz?!” She yelled.

The fog had slowed down. Suddenly the cannons shoot. And the fog started to disappear. 

“Finnick?!” Hope tried again.

“I’m...here.” He could barely talk.

Only then Hope noticed him completely hidden between the leaves and the brunches. 

“Are you okay?!” 

He tried to move. He only nodded.

“Liz..where is she?” Hope asked.

“She pushed me down and then she was just gone.” He said with sadness in his voice.

Hope closed her eyes and then looked up in the sky, trying not to think how bad this would affect Josie. 

“Hope! There’s water here! I think it helps to wash off the poison!” 

Hope quickly grabbed Josie and placed her arms around her neck to carry her to the water. 

She felt relieved herself as she was entirely immersed. 

Josie kept groaning in pain and crying, while Hope pushed her body into the water to wash her completely.

Then Hope lied her on the surface, holding Josie’s head in her hands while she kept washing her face carefully, so that the burns could go away.

“Shh. It’s okay. You’re gonna be okay.” Hope said in a soft and emotional voice. 

She had almost lost her again. She was trying so hard to keep her alive but everything kept risking it. 

She knew it was all Mikael. But Hope wouldn’t let him win this entirely. 

He could go after her. Threaten her. Kill her. But he wasn’t going to have Josie. Not her. 

Josie looked at Hope finally starting to regain some clarity. 

“Where’s Liz?” She asked. 

Hope thought about it for a moment. On how to say it. But there was no good way or bad way to say it.

“I’m so sorry. She’s gone.” 

Hope thought that she would react badly. Instead she didn’t cry or move a muscle. 

She swallowed down the pain instead. 

She had only known that woman for a few days, but she was still family. She felt like a piece of her had just been ripped out. But that wasn’t the place where she could give space to her pain like that. She never breaks. She can’t break now.

“We have to go.” She said and got up, walking out of the water and leaving Hope there wondering. Then something caught her attention.

“Josie...don’t make another move.” Finnick said slowly.

Josie suddenly stopped walking and looked around her. 

They were surrounded by monkeys. They were getting more and more closer while the girls and Finnick slowly stepped back. 

“Should we run or take out the weapons?” He whispered.

Suddenly one of them made an ungodly scream and they started to attack them. 

The three of them against a dozens of monkeys couldn’t stand a chance, but somehow they managed to kill some of them.

Hope was shooting arrows faster than she ever did even during her virtual training. But suddenly one of the monkeys jumped on her basically trying to eat her face.  
Hope was holding it back with the bow but the monkey kept screaming at her. 

Suddenly a knife flew into the air and went right through the monkey’s head. Hope freed herself and looked at Josie’s direction, who was smiling at her. Hope smiled back but then her smile dropped.

“Josie on your left!”

Josie turned to her side but it was too late and the monkey had scratched her on the leg. She didn’t have a weapon to kill it so she had to find the strength to free herself.

But before she could put her mind into it, an arrow sticks right into the monkeys chest and it falls to her side dead. 

Josie got up and looked at Hope’s direction who was still busy shooting arrows. 

But she knew it was Hope. 

_It was always Hope._

Then Finnick caught both their attention. 

“We can’t take all of them! We have to go to the beach! Run!” 

They started running while the monkeys were still chasing them. 

Hope felt her lungs burn. She had been running for hours and between the poison and the panic of trying to stay alive and keep Josie alive, it was exhausting.

Suddenly one of the monkeys jumped further and landend on Josie’s back. Before Hope could do anything a girl camouflaged into the tree threw herself on the monkey’s back and stabbed it. 

But as Josie managed to escape, another one jumped on the girl and scratched her deeply on her back. She fell on her back screaming and the monkey instantly attacked her again and scratched her on the throat. 

“We’re almost there! Don’t stop!” Finnick yelled without looking behind him.

Hope sees Josie kill the monkey that was on the girl and was now trying to carry her, so she went to help Josie and take the girl to the beach away from there.

As they were finally on the shore, the monkeys stopped. All of them stayed there waiting for another fight, but they weren’t stepping out of the forest.

“They can’t come here. I think we’re safe.” Finnick says.

Hope’s attention was caught by the girl she was carrying on her shoulder and her gasps.

“Hope, help me take her into the water.” Josie said.

She lays her down and keeps her floating. Only then they both notice it was Maya.  
Hope thought that the scratch around her throat was too bad. Too bad to believe she could survive it. 

She glanced at Josie who was clearly thinking the same thing. No matter how Josie was usually more of a believer things could go well, she wasn’t now. 

“Hey, Maya..right?” 

Maya only nodded and kept convulsing under Josie’s hold.

“It’s okay. You’re safe here. Breathe slowly. Lay your head with me. Listen to the sound of the water.”

Maya let her head rest in the water, her ears where now under it. She closes her eyes and then opens them again to look at Josie and smiles.

“It’s a nice sound, right?”

Hope was looking at how Josie was handling this and realized that a heart like hers was impossible not to love.

_Love._

She did love her. She probably had for a while. 

But how would Josie believe she could really love her and not think it’s for show? And why saying it now? She could never put those words together out loud. 

“Let the pain go. Picture yourself in your happy place. See it.” Josie says.

The girl only nods as a tear runs down her cheek. And a few seconds later, she stops breathing and there’s a cannon shot.

Josie let the girl go and gives her one last sad look. 

“She sacrificed herself for me.” 

“Maybe she was another of our secret allies.” Hope said.

“Still, why jump out of the dark to save me? It’s just..” She shook her head, unable to understand the reason.

Hope didn’t really know what the reason could be. She only stayed silent, while Josie walked back on the shore and sat next to Finnick, who had found some food.  
Hope soon joined them.

“I think someone’s coming.” Josie said focusing on the voices she heard. 

Finnick got up and looked over the trees to check if someone was on the other side of the shore. 

“It’s Jade.” He said enthusiastic and then turned around to look at the two girls still sitting behind him. “We can trust Jade, Hope.” 

“I really don’t think...” 

Hope didn’t even have the time to finish her sentence that Finnick was already running towards the blonde. 

Hope sighed and started collecting her things along with Josie.

“I guess we have another one on the team.” Josie said. 

“I bet you like that.” Hope said with a hint of annoyance in her voice and then walked away. 

Josie frowned and shook her head. Sometimes she didn’t get where Hope’s comments came from. Why did she seem...bothered.

“It was raining blood! We couldn’t breathe. My skin was boiling. It’s a miracle we got out of there alive!” Jade was screaming angrily.

Hope noticed that she was with Dorian and Emma, the two tributes Hope talked to at the training.

“The lightning..the blood rain..the fog..monkeys..” Emma whispered while shaking. “The lightning..blood rain..the fog..monkeys..”

“What’s she saying?” Josie asked and got close to Emma. 

“She’s in shock. She doesn’t know what she’s saying.” Dorian said.

Josie looked closely at her. “I don’t think she...” 

“I swear to God when I catch that bastard I’m going to tear him apart.” Jade kept walking backwards and forwards with her sword in the air while expressing her anger. 

“It’s time! It’s time! Look at the time!” Emma screamed while she grabbed Josie’s by her shoulder tightly. 

“Can you just shut up for a moment!” Jade said grabbing Emma by her shirt and pushing her into the water.

“Hey! She’s in shock!” Josie said angrily pushing her off of Emma. But Jade took it on her too and pushed Josie back, closing her hand in a fist to hit her. 

Before Jade could catch her she found herself on the ground holding her face in pain and with her nose bleeding. 

“Don’t ever try to do that again or I’ll kill you myself.” Hope said threateningly.

“I swear Mikaelson, when I catch you..” Jade said cleaning up the blood from her face.

“It’s time! Look at time!” Emma shouts again and points at the water.

Josie looks at the middle of the arena and realizes. 

“It’s a clock. You’re right Emma! It’s a clock!” 

“What do you mean it’s a clock?” Hope asked confused.

“Look at the tail of the house. At midnight, the lightning strikes at the big tree. At ten, the fog and then the monkeys. At twelve the blood rain. Is there anything else?” Josie asks.

“We didn’t see anything else until now. But the others probably will shortly.” Dorian said.

“If we stay away from those sectors we should be fine.”

Suddenly the sound of trees cracking on the other side of the shore captured their attention. Two seconds later a landslide takes down the trees until it reaches the beach. The cannons shoot three times. Then everything goes quiet.

“We need supplies.” Finnick says.

“Shouldn’t we wait if we see them coming?” Josie asks.

“They’re outnumbered anyway. I say we can go.” Jade states.

“Okay. Let’s go, but keep your eyes open.” Hope says and starts walking on the long line of rocks that leads them to the metal house. 

“What do we need?” Jade asks.

“Take those wires.” Dorian points a box. 

They started taking everything that could be useful.

“Emma, keep an eye on the shore, will you?” Hope asked while opening the boxes. 

Then she turned around the look at her and saw her falling into the water, her throat slot.

“Watch out!” 

Hope moves quickly before Rayna could stab her and her sword gets stuck in the box. While she tries to take it out Hope jumps on her back and tries to choke her, but Rayna fights back and she bends ahead so that Hope falls off. 

Hope feels her back paralyzed for a moment and she can’t move nor get up. 

Meanwhile Finnick and Josie were too busy to notice, but luckily Jade did.

She threw a knife right into her stomach with so much strength that Rayna made a few steps back and fell into the water after hitting her head on the rocks.

Jade offered her hand to Hope to help her stand up and she hesitated for a moment. 

“Come on Mikaelson, don’t make me regret this.” 

Hope took her hand and got up, but before she could steady herself everything started trembling. 

“What’s happening?” She asked. 

Suddenly the entire mountain of rocks in started to spin, making everyone lose their balance. 

They tried to hold onto the rocks waiting for it to stop, but Hope’s hand was already slipping, no matter how much strength she tried to use.

“Hope hold on! Don’t let go!” Josie yells a few meters far from her. 

“I’m slipping!” Hope said groaning.

“Just don’t slip!” 

If Hope wasn’t so focused she probably would’ve laughed at her face. 

She tried to do so until she couldn’t hold on anymore and let go, but Josie grabbed her with one hand while with the other she held the hand of an axe driven into the rock. 

Suddenly it started spinning faster than before and as much as Josie tried, she lost Hope’s hand and saw her fall into the water. Josie panicked like she never had before. 

“Hope!” 

She sounded almost desperate. For a moment she thought about letting go and look for Hope underwater. But then suddenly the rocks stopped spinning. 

Josie leans towards the water and calls for Hope but she can’t see her anywhere. 

“Hope!” She almost cries while screaming. “Hope!” She screams using all the air in her lungs. 

If until a moment before she was telling herself she couldn’t break, but now the tears were running down and it was out of her control.

A moment later she saw Hope coming up to surface and gasping for air and coughing. In that moment Josie felt like she could breathe again too. 

Hope swam to where she was and Josie helped her to get out and studied her closely as if to make sure she was really okay. Hope was still trying to recover. Meanwhile Josie was holding her face in her hands and caressing her cheeks. 

“You’re okay. You’re here.” She says out loud probably to reassure herself more than Hope.

“Yeah..I’m here.” Hope said out of breath. 

“I’m so sorry I lost you. I tried to hold on..”

“Josie it’s okay.” 

Honestly Hope didn’t even think for a second to blame Josie. She had drank so much water that her brain was currently floating. 

“No! It’s not okay. You could’ve died...” She cried.

“But I didn’t.” Hope wiped off the tears running down her cheeks. “I didn’t. I’m here.” She kept caressing her face until Josie stopped crying. 

Meanwhile the others were watching them silently. 

Probably it was the very moment that made everyone realize that what they had was more than just a show.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guys i know you didn’t want me to kill liz but...i had already planned this for a while :( 
> 
> but hey at least hope is not in denial anymore. 
> 
> Last chapter for the second part tomorrow!! Third part coming right after ;) 
> 
> Again thank you so much for your comments i love y’all deeply <33


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do not prosecute me
> 
> ps. listen to edge by gracie abrams on repeat during the chapter for a more painful experience

“Do you think the others will come now?” Jade asked Finnick.

“I don’t know. But if they know we’re here I doubt they will.” 

A moment of silence passed between them.

“I don’t think it’s over.” Josie said.

Suddenly there is a voice coming from the forest. 

“Finnick! Finnick!”

“Annie?” Finnick whispered incredulously. “Annie!” He started running ahead.

“Finnick wait! She can’t be here!” Jade yelled but he didn’t listen. 

Hope followed him while he kept running in circles, since the voice seemed to come from everywhere.

Then she freezed on the spot. 

_“Hope. Her name is Hope.”_

It was her father’s voice. It couldn’t be. 

“Dad?” Her voice was shaking.

_“Hope, stay in your room.”_

“Mom?” Tears started forming in her eyes.

“Hope it’s not them. They’re playing with us.” Finnick says. 

_“You won’t touch her. My daughter!”_

The rageful voice of her father echoed. 

_“You’re a monster!”_ Her aunt cried.

“No..no, please stop. Stop...” Hope cried and placed her hands on her ears. 

_“You won’t lay a hand on my niece.”_

_“Leave the mother of the child.”_

_“Mark my words, my daughter will come for you.”_

_“Hope, we have to leave. Now.”_

_“Mom! Dad!”_ Her seven year old self cries.

_“No!”_

Gunshots. 

The screams of her family were replaying in her head all over again. It was overwhelming her. She started crying and screaming desperately, reliving the whole trauma. 

She crashed on the ground and kept her hands on her ears while she cried and begged this to stop. But the screams wouldn’t stop. 

Her mom. Her dad. Her uncles and her aunt’s screams echoing all together.

Suddenly she felt two hands picking her up and holding her tight but she was too scared to open her eyes. 

“Please, please make it stop...” She sobs uncontrollably. 

The screams start sounding like a long loud whistle, until they finally stop and everything goes quiet.

But not for Hope. 

Her head is still replaying the screams of her family. 

“Hope?” Josie called her now while holding her on her lap. But Hope’s eyes were still fixed in the void.

“Hope...listen to my voice. Focus on my voice.” She said softly. “Hope?” She placed a hand under her chin to face her. “Hey. Do you hear me?” 

Hope’s eyes suddenly moved to look at her. Josie saw so much devastation in them that she could almost feel it.

“They’re gone.” Hope said with a broken voice as tears started running down her face again. 

Josie caressed her cheeks to wipe off the tears and helped her get up. “Let’s go back to the beach. Okay?” 

Hope nodded and followed her.

-

Meanwhile at the Capitol, Mikael was sitting in his office and watching the games and enjoying every second of it. 

Finn came into the room and smiled at him.

“How did you come up with that?” Finn asks.

“Just a trick I’ve been holding onto for ten years.” He said smiling wickedly.

“So cruel, father.”

“I don’t care about what the entire Capitol may think. They saw how weak she is, they all saw what she’s really fighting for.” He paused. “Love.“

“The girl is all she cares about.” 

“Exactly.”

“I don’t think she will ever stop. You know why.” 

“I’ll make her stop. Either I kill her first or I kill her lover. She’ll die and join her parents. She’ll have her Always and Forever, but my way.” 

-

Hope and Josie were sitting on the beach in silence. Josie didn’t want to pressure her to talk or anything. She was just fine sitting by her side and making sure she knew she wasn’t alone. At least she hoped she knew that.

“What he did was horrible, Hope. I’m really sorry.” Jade said looking down at her. “He will pay for this. Everything. I will haunt him down myself if I need to. He’s not powerful. He’s not unreachable. He can be put down.” Jade said angrier.  
“Can you hear me Mikaelson?! You are dead! The day I see your head off your neck will be a cultural reset for the world!” She screamed at the air. 

Hope was looking at her with no emotions on her face. She wondered how Jade could put so much anger into it. Normally she would do that too.

Right now Hope couldn’t feel anything.

“I’ve nothing else to lose anyway. He killed my entire family too.” Jade said sounding sad. 

“Everyone come here. I have a plan.” Dorian says.

“Did any of you wonder why they still aren’t here?” Dorian asked.

“Because they’re...waiting for the right moment?” Josie guessed.

“No, they’re waiting for us to leave. If we cross them we could take them down in a heartbeat. So they don’t dare to come here.” Finnick says.

“Right. And what happens in four hours?”

“The high waves.” Josie said.

“And what happens at midnight?” 

“The lightning.” Hope stated.

“So here’s the plan. We leave the beach as it gets dark and we head to the lightning tree. From there, we run this wire from the tree to the water. Anyone in there will be electrocuted.” 

“Are you sure this will work?” Hope asked him.

“If it doesn’t, we can still take them the old fashion way.” He says.

“Well, let’s try it. I’m bored anyway.” Jade says causing Finnick to laugh. 

As they waited for the sun to go down, Hope sat back on the shore, looking at the sundown while her thoughts kept going to the same thing. 

Josie interrupted her thoughts sitting next to her again, still not talking. 

“You don’t have to worry about me.” Hope says in a small and sad voice.

Josie glances at her. “I’m not worried. I just prefer sitting with you than the rest of them.” 

“That’s probably for the best. We’ll end up killing each other anyway.” 

“Do you still think that way? I mean..we’ve been allies until now after all. We should find a way to get out of here together.” 

Hope sighed amused and shook her head. “There’s no getting out of this together, Jo.” She said turning her eyes to meet Josie.

Only then she realized how she had called her. Hope bit her own tongue and quickly looked away, while Josie was still taking in the fact that Hope gave her a nickname.

It was not a big deal. 

Well it wouldn’t be, if it wasn’t coming from Hope.

“I don’t think I can kill them.” Josie said shaking her head.

“Then I will.” Hope said without blinking.

Josie turned to look at her with a scolding face. “How can you just do this without even feel one bit of remorse? How can you not care Hope?”

“Who tells you I don’t care?” She says raising her tone, getting defensive.

“Your actions! _You!_ What are you even fighting for at this point if not for changing things. To free the Districts and the Capitol from _him.”_

“For you! I fight for you!” She bursts out. 

Josie froze for a moment, her eyes still fixed on Hope, meanwhile she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before speaking again.

“I know you asked the same thing to Damon. But that’s not happening.” Hope said more calmly.

“Because he listens to you more than he listens to me?” 

“No. Because I can’t let you die, Josie.” She said almost pleading her not to fight her on this.

“Why do you keep doing this Hope?” She asks with a hint of exasperation in her voice.

Hope smiled widely and turned to look at her with tears in her eyes. 

“Isn’t that obvious by now?” She asks softly. 

Josie stares at her lips and then her eyes. 

“No. Tell me.” She wanted to hear it. She wanted Hope to say it.

“I care about you, Josie. I need you. If something happens to you..” She stopped talking as her voice started breaking down. She cleared her throat and tried to control it. “If something happened to you, I can’t imagine the damage I would do.” 

“What if something happens to you? How do you think I would feel then?” She said crying silently.

Hope stayed silent and looked at her with sad eyes. Seeing Josie cry was enough to break her heart. She immediately regretted talking.

“Because Hope..I would be completely shattered.” 

She started shaking and sobbing. And at that point Hope grabbed her face gently and pulled her into a kiss. It was soft but desperate at the same time. Just as she broke the kiss the first time, Josie instantly crushed her lips on Hope’s again, deepening the kiss. If they could just stay still like that forever, they probably would.

As they broke the kiss and met each other’s eyes, Hope saw another tear on Josie’s cheek and kissed it away. 

“Don’t cry. Okay?” She said softly. 

Josie lowered her head nodded with her eyes closed to hold back more tears, while Hope rested her lips for a few seconds on her forehead leaving another sweet kiss.

She hoped that Josie knew now what she meant to her. How much she cared. So much to even break down her own walls and be this caring and affectionate. 

As much as she wanted to protect Josie from heartbreak, she needed her alive. That hadn’t changed. And for that, Hope had to die.

-

When the sun was out they walked all the way up to the big tree. Dorian studied the electric conductor closely. 

“Okay. We have to do this quickly. A lightning strike usually contains five billions joules of energy. We can’t be here when it happens.”

“So how do we do this?”

“We split up. Hope and Jade unroll the wire. Make sure it goes in the water. Finnick and Josie stay here with me.”

“Can’t Josie and I do it?” Hope asked.

“Why? You afraid I will kill you, Mikaelson?” Jade smirked provocatively.

Hope glanced at Josie and then back at Dorian.

“Josie is coming with me.”

“Who tells me you won’t set us up, huh? You never trusted any of us from the beginning.” Finnick said. 

“Then trust Josie.” She pointed at her.

Finnick laughed amused. “With all the respect for you, Josie, but I think we all know not even you can be trusted when it comes to Hope.” 

Josie couldn’t say differently. She didn’t know if she could be able to go against Hope for whatever reason. She did want everyone to get out of there though. If that plan could avoid them start killing each other, then so be it.

She walked over to Hope and placed her hands on her cheeks, caressing her softly. 

“It’s okay. Do as they say. We’ll meet at the other tree.” She whispered. 

She didn’t want them to hear. It was a moment between them. Josie knew anything could happen if they split up. She knew that they needed each other to survive, and Josie didn’t know how things were gonna go without Hope by her side. 

“I..I can’t let you here. It’s dangerous..” Hope gets agitated. Josie holds her face in her hands tightly.

“It’s dangerous anywhere, Hope.” She said softly.

Hope’s breathing was erratic. The thought of separating herself from Josie was scary. Not only because she wanted to keep her safe, but because she could only feel safe next to her too. Josie kept her sane in there. 

“But..I won’t be with you if something happens. I have to be with you.” 

Anyone who could see her now would think that Hope Mikaelson is nothing but a crybaby. She doesn’t normally let herself lose control or openly shows her feelings. 

But the fear of being close to losing Josie again was terrifying for her.

“Just go. I will find you. If Jade tries to lay a hand on you, you have my permission to kill her.” 

Hope smiles. “I don’t need your permission to do that.”

Josie smiled back. 

“Of course you don’t.”

She closed the distance in a deep kiss while her hands were still caressing Hope’s face. Hope deepened the kiss for a moment and then broke it as they were left with no air. Their eyes met.

“You’ll find me?” Hope asked to make sure. 

Josie nodded and pulled a strand of Hope’s hair behind her ear. “Always.”

“I’ll see you in a minute then.” Hope said giving her one last look.

She walked away with Jade as Josie stayed there with Finnick and Dorian, but as Hope disappeared into the forest she felt all her certainties fade away.

Hope was unrolling the wire while Jade walked along with her.

“Be quick. I don’t wanna get fried.”

“I’m trying.” Hope says annoyed while she tries to untagle the wire.

“You don’t wanna be late to meet your girlfriend.” 

“You really need to shut up.”

“Oh, don’t be jealous Hope. She has eyes only for you. Such a shame she refused to look at me when I was there naked and completely available under her eyes.” 

Hope dropped the metal roll where the wire was rolled up and sighed heavily.

“Are you trying to get me to kill you?” 

“Is it working?” She smirked.

“Just shut up, Jade.” 

And she did. But because she heard something and now she was focusing on that. 

“There’s someone here.” She whispers.

Hope looks around her but can’t see no one, but suddenly Jade sees a knife flying through the air. Luckily she misses it by throwing herself on top of Hope to hide both of them. 

“Get off me!” 

“I just saved our asses!” 

“There they are!” Someone yelled at them.

There were two of them. They could have easily took them out together but Jade decided she was going to be the bait. 

“I’ll hold them off. Act dead.” She stabs Hope into the arm making her bleed and dirties her face with her blood. Then she runs away along with the two tributes.

Hope holds her arm and groans in pain. She tries to stand up and finish the task as soon as she can. 

She had to get to Josie.

Suddenly there was the loud sound of the wires going off and the noise of electricity freeing into the air. 

Hope felt her heart drop into her stomach. She didn’t care about the wire. She needed to see if Josie was okay. 

She ran fast up to the steep path and came back to the lightning tree. The only one there is Dorian, laying on the ground in a state of shock because of the current. 

“Dorian? Where is Josie?” 

He couldn’t answer. 

Hope got up and searched the area but couldn’t see anyone around. She didn’t want to lose it. She didn’t want to start crying. Her mind couldn’t lose this much control when it came to Josie. 

“Josie!” She screamed while crying. 

Suddenly Finnick appeared running from the forest and as soon as Hope saw him, she pointed the bow at him. 

He had his hands in the air. Hope’s hands were shaking and despite she had her face wet with tears, her eyes were full of anger.

“Hope. Put the bow down. I don’t know what happened, I swear.”

“Where is Josie?” She asked spelling out every word.

“I..I saw her running off after three of them arrived. I followed her but I lost her.” 

“What do you mean you lost her?!” Her grip on the bow grew tighter.

“I don’t know where she went!” 

Suddenly the storm started. Hope felt like she was suffocating in there. For the first time, she was willing to die not only for Josie, but she was ready to die defying the man who caused all of this. 

She wasn’t just mad. She was furious. She was vengeful and she wanted justice. For her family. For Pedro. For the Districts.  
For Josie, wherever she was. 

She noticed something that had been there all the time. She sees the tremors of the force field in the sky. She tries to focus her eyes to make sure she was seeing it right.

Finnick looks at her scared. “Hope, what’s wrong?” 

She tied the wire to her arrow before the lightning could strike, and as it did, she shot the arrow in the air, causing the entire electric field to go off along with the field surrounding them from the sky. 

“Hope no!” 

She didn’t see what happened next. The only thing she sees before she passes out is the entire wire lightning up. Then an explosion throws her a few meters away. 

She slowly closes her eyes, while she sees the sky completely falling down and something picking her up from the ground.

_

“What did she do?! What happened?!” Mikael shouts from his room, then he moves to the control room.

“We’ve lost power, Sir. The entire system shut down.”

“Where’s Finn?!” 

_

When Hope wakes up she is laying in a hospital bed. At least the room looks like it. 

She instantly gets up and slowly walks outside the room. It looked like an aircraft, similar to the one that took her to the arena.

She kept walking until she came in front of two sliding doors. She hears familiar voices coming out. 

“I think my father knows by now that I betrayed him.” 

_Finn?_

“I’ll deal with her. But I warn you she won’t take it well.” 

_Damon’s voice._

Hope made a few steps forward and the doors opened, revealing Damon, Finnick, Finn and Landon in the room.

As soon as her eyes met Landon’s, his gaze lit up. Hope was surprised to see him there.

“Landon? What are you-“ 

He hugged her tight and sighed in relief. “It’s okay. Your family is okay.” 

Hope broke the hug and looked at him and then at the others. “Why are you here?” Then she pointed at Finn. “Why is he here?” 

Damon knew her enough to know she was starting to go off. He tries to get close to her to keep her calm but Hope wouldn’t let him touch her.

“He’s part of the plan. A plan I had to keep secret from you because we couldn’t risk it. Finnick and the other allies knew, but I couldn’t tell you. Mikael was trying everything on you.” 

“Where..where is Josie? Is she here?” 

“Hope...you started a war today, okay? A war that was inevitable. Now we need you more than ever.”

“Wha..what are you talking about?” She asks while her breathing becomes even less calm. 

“We’re going to District 13.”

“13?”

“The 12 was destroyed. There were only a few survivors.”

Her District. Her house. The people she had known all her life. Everything was gone. Gone... 

Josie.

She looks at Damon again walking closer to him. “Where is Josie?”

“Hope..”

“Where is she?!” She screams crying. 

“She’s at the Capitol.” Finnick says.

Damon throws him a hateful look and then is caught off guard by Hope hitting him.

“You promised! You promised she would be safe! That you would save her!” She cried desperately while she kept hitting him on the chest. 

“Listen, I tried okay! But we had to put you first because we need you Hope! We need you to do this!”

“You..” She felt her body lose strength. “You had to put me first.” She lets herself crawl with her back against the wall until she abandons herself on the floor, holding her head in her hands. 

She didn’t want to be put first. She always put Josie first.

Damon kneels down to face her. 

“I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t...I can’t do this. I can’t...” She cried.

“You can, Hope. Because you’re a Mikaelson.” 

_But without her?_

Hope never was the kind of person who needed someone else to exist, or even breathe, but since Josie it’s like she became one of them.

She never needed saving and she never allowed herself to feel vulnerable. 

But just the thought of Josie being always there willing to sacrifice herself for her was enough to feel like she didn’t mind being saved.

She would do the same for her. She always wanted to do that for her. 

If she didn’t have Josie, she had no heart.

If she had to go to war, then she would do so. She would do what was right and what her people needed. 

But one thing she was sure of, was that Mikael had made his biggest mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> end of part two 🥺 
> 
> If you think you’ve suffered enough until now, just wait to read the rest.
> 
> A little anticipation i can give is: you’ll be able to see more of hope’s feelings and there will be three more characters you know of. One of them you probably don’t expect to be there since well- I can’t say no more. 👀 
> 
> Thank you for reading the story and for your nice comments, they make me very happy and push me to write even more <33 
> 
> I’ll see you on part three 🤟🏻


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys <3 
> 
> this is the beginning of part 3 and will cover five chapters. i believe our journey from now on will be beautifully painful. i promise you great things though, trust me. 
> 
> also, i’m not feeling very good today and since i’m in bed and i’ve many chapters ready, i thought i could do a double update. so i’ll give you two chapters today <3 
> 
> enjoy <3

Hope is in a hidden corner of the facility. She holds her knees to her chest and breathes erratically, as if her lungs were trying to catch air but there wasn’t enough oxygen in there. 

She keeps crying and shaking on the cold floor.

“My name is Hope Mikaelson. I’m from District 12. I was in the Hunger Games. I got out. And Josie...” Her voice cracks at the end. “Josie didn’t.” She sobs.

“Miss Mikaelson? You can’t be here.”

“Please leave me...just five minutes. Please. I don’t want to sleep. I can’t..” She whispers to herself, still shaking.

“Did you have another nightmare? You need to sleep. We can help you sleep.”

“No..I can’t sleep. I can’t keep losing her. I don’t want to sleep.” She keeps crying.

Suddenly the two guards grab Hope by her arms and take her with them.

“No! Please. Just five minutes...please.”  
She tries to escape from their hold but she has not enough strength for that.

She’s taken back to her hospital room. They put her to sleep again. Since the episode on the aircraft, they needed to keep her sedated for a few days. Despite that she kept waking up after having nightmares and she kept losing control. 

When she wakes up, she’s not the only one she can hear crying.

She walks out of her room with her bare feet, just the white gown on her. Her hair are messy and her eyes are puffy because of how much she cried. 

She walks to the room next to hers and sees Finnick sitting on the hospital bed.

“Finnick?” She asks not believing her eyes.

He seems taken aback from seeing her there. He seems just as devastated as her. “They have Annie too. They took her. She’s...in the Capitol.” He looks up to meet Hope’s gaze. His eyes are wet and off. “I wish we were all dead. If we were dead, this wouldn’t have happened.” 

A single tear runs down Hope’s face. 

She wishes that too. 

-

Hope was in her room sitting on her bed. Her eyes looked sad and empty. She still wasn’t able to process what was happening. She almost didn’t want to believe it. 

All her life she has dealt with scary nightmares, but this was probably the worst kind of them. 

Freya was brushing her hair when Colonel White entered the room. 

“Miss Mikaelson, I’m Colonel Waithe, District 13’s head of security. I know you’ve been discharged, but President Coin’s requested to meet with you first.”

Hope walked with him to the elevator that would take her to the President. 

“Is there any news?” She asks.

“Not that I know of.”

“I thought there was nothing left of 13.”

“The Capitol bombed the surface to rubble. But we’re military, we learned to survive down here. We trained, we stayed prepared. We knew a greater war was coming.”

Hope wondered if it could really be worse than this. She had barely survived her last war, let alone fight a greater one. She felt shattered.

The Colonel escorts her to a room where she finds Dorian looking completely healthy, except for the stick he had to use to help his paralyzed left leg. Then there was Finn and District 13’s President Dahlia Coin.

“There she is. Our girl on fire. President Coin, let me introduce you to Miss Hope Mikaelson.” Finn says.

“It is an honor to meet you.” She shakes Hope’s hand.

“You were very brave, Miss Mikaelson. I know this must be disorienting. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through.” 

Hope was all but unimpressed with whatever thing they wanted to say to her and she couldn’t care less of being praised.

“Please know you are welcome here. In the 13 we know what loss is. I hope you can find some comfort.”

Hope was still gazing at the three of them and not saying a word. If she could choose not to talk anymore for the rest of her life, she would. Maybe she will.

“Please, have a seat.” The President invites her.

She sits down and stays quiet.

“Are you aware of what happened? When you fired that arrow at the force field you electrified the nation. There have been riots and uprisings and strikes in seven districts. We believe that if we keep this energy going we can unify the districts against the Capitol. But if we don’t, if we let it dissipate, we could be waiting another seventy-five years for this opportunity. Everyone in 13 is ready for this.”

Suddenly her vote of silence was already something in the past, because her mind was only telling her one thing.

“What about Josie? Is she alive?”

“We don’t know, I’m sorry. I tried to find out but I can’t find a way to contact my spy in the Capitol.” Finn says.

“They suppressed all communications between the districts. But I got into their system. We only need to send the perfect message.” Dorian says.

“Hope, here’s what we need to do. We need to show them that you’re still alive and well and willing to stand up and join this fight. Cause we need every district to stand up to the Capitol the way you did. So we’re gonna shoot a series of propaganda clips of you. To spread the word that we’re gonna stoke the fire of this rebellion.” Finn says as if he was explaining some board game. 

But Hope had to expect this. He was a Gamemaker after all.

Hope leaned forward on the table to get closer to both Finn and the President. 

“You can find another symbol to lead your rebellion.” She whispered with all the anger she’s got. 

“Hope...”

She slams her hand on the table.

“Josie was the one who was supposed to live! Not me!” She shouts.

“The revolution is about all of us. And we need a voice for the people. You are that voice.” He says.

Hope can’t bear to stay in that room one moment longer, so she gets up to leave.

“If you wanted a voice, you should’ve saved Josie.”

Then she walks out of the room.

Finn sighs as the President turns to look at him not very pleased.

“This is not the girl you described.”

“Listen. No one can do this but her. Even if it doesn’t look like it, she cares.”

“She only cares about the girl.”

“Of course, it has to be personal. That’s all we need. Remind her who her enemy is. How do you think she will react if she finds out that Mikaelson has harmed Josie? He killed her family once. He is on thin ice. If he touches the girl, Hope will completely lose it.”

“Let her see what the Capitol did to 12.” The President proposes.

“She can’t handle it.”

“This is what could make her change her mind. If we want her to be the face of the revolution, she needs to see with her own eyes.” She paused. “Send her home.” 

Later that day Colonel White took Hope to the aircraft that was to take her to District 12. Hope sees Landon standing there with his arms crossed on his chest.

“You don’t have to do this.”

“Apparently I have to.” 

“I mean. You don’t have to do this alone.” 

She smiles softly and then leans forward to embrace him. “I’ll see you later.”

She gets on the craft and takes off. While she’s in there, she gazes curiously at the Colonel. He looked so young for being one. 

“How old are you?” Hope asks.

He smiles. “How old do you think I am?” 

Hope stays quiet. It’s none of her business after all.

“You can call me Rafael by the way. I’m not as old as you think.” 

She forces a small smile and then Rafael gets up. 

“We’re here.”

The aircraft lands and Hope walks out and finds herself surrounded by ruins.

“I’ll have eyes on you from above, okay?” Rafael says.

Hope nods and keeps looking around her feeling overwhelmed. When the aircraft was far enough into the air the place fell into a dead silence again.

Hope was walking on demolished houses. Burned forniture and broken glass. 

This was nothing like her home. This didn’t look at all like District 12. It was a war zone. 

She keeps walking until there is a high mountain of breaks. She almost has to climb it and as she arrives to the top, her jaw drops in shock when she sees the entire street full with burned human bones.

She cries silently at first, until she starts sobbing and shaking at the horror before her eyes. 

Her thoughts suddenly went to her family. She thought about all these people. The family they had and they were. And Mikael had destroyed them, just like he destroyed hers. 

She tried to calm down and decided to walk away from there and headed to the Victor’s village. 

She glances at Josie’s house first. The kitchen window was open. Only the wind was moving the curtain back and forth. 

She keeps walking and enters her house.  
She looks around her and wonders why their houses were the only ones left standing. 

She takes a bag to collect some of Freya’s herbs and cooked medicine that could be of help. 

She walked into the rooms and noticed that everything was untouched. She walked into the studio and took a picture of her family and a picture of her, Freya, Keelin and Nik from the desk.

Then something caught her attention. There was a white rose in the middle of a vase of withered flowers. It didn’t even look real. 

She believed that was not some casualty. She knows Mikael left this. But she can’t understand why he would leave a white rose here.

She knows he wanted nothing more than to see her dead. To his disappointment she is very much alive. She can’t imagine the look on his face if he knew that. 

After a while she walked out of her house to walk back to where the aircraft left her, but suddenly something came to her mind.

She stopped outside Josie’s house and then walked in. She looked around her and noticed a wall full with pictures of Josie’s family. She had a wide smile that Hope never got to see. 

She’d seen Josie smile many times, but not like that. She wished Josie could’ve had better than what she got. 

As she felt the tears fighting to come out, she clears her throat and walks into another room. 

It definitely was Josie and Lizzie’s room. She knew why she was there, so she went directly to look for what she came for.

And she found it as soon as she opened their closet. 

She smiled weakly while taking the coat in her hands and brings it to her chest. It smelled like Josie. It had the same intoxicating perfume Josie had. And for a moment Hope felt as if she was in her arms again. 

She cried silently for a long time, but then she noticed that the sun was going down and she needed to go back, so she walked out and headed to the aircraft.

-

Mikael was sitting behind his desk, ready to give his televises speech to the districts, who where watching on big screens.

“Citizens, tonight I address all of Panem as one. Since the Dark Days, Panem has had an unprecedented era of peace. It is a peace built upon cooperation and a respect for law and order. In the past weeks you have heard of sporadic violence following the actions of a few radicals in the Quarter Quell. To those who choose this destructive path, your actions are based on a misunderstanding of how we have survived, together. It is a contract. Each district supplies the Capitol, like blood to a heart. In return, the Capitol provides order and security. To refuse work is to put the entire system in danger. The Capitol is the beating heart of Panem. Nothing can survive without a heart.”

Meanwhile on every podium of the districts there were a few rebels blindfolded and chained, ready to be executed.

“The criminals that kneel before you use symbols for the purpose of sedition, which is why all the images of fire will be forbidden. Possessing them will be considered treason. Punishable by death. Justice shall be served swiftly. Order shall be restored. To those who ignore the warnings of history…prepare to pay the ultimate price.” 

The Peacekeepers shoot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> side note: Dahlia is the first new character I’ll be introducing in this part 👀 but she’s not part of the family in this story.
> 
> Oh and Rafael 👀


	18. Chapter 18

Hope returns to her apartment in District 13 where she finds Freya and Nik.

She runs to Freya who welcomes her into an embrace. 

“Are you okay baby?”

“Not really, no.” Hope says keeping her head buried in Freya’s chest. “Where is aunt Keelin?” She asks breaking the hug.

“In the cafeteria. She’s fine.”

“Where did you take that coat?” Nik asked curiously. 

Hope avoids to answer his question and shows the herbs she brought to her aunt. Then she hands her the pictures and Freya smiles softly staring at her brothers in the frame.

“Did you know about Finn? That he was actually on our side?” Hope asked Freya.

“Finn always was a mama’s boy, never father’s. If he did what he did, he must have had a reason. I think he believes you can change everything.” 

“When I met him he said his family had wronged him. How?”

“He always felt...left out. As if your father only cared for your uncle Elijah and Rebekah. He never agreed with family choices, but I still was his favorite sister.” She smiles.

“I hope that still counts for something.” Hope says.

Freya smiles and then her expression changes. 

“I don’t think you know but Josie’s twin sister, Lizzie...she survived.”

Saying that hearing that was a shock was an euphemism. 

“Lizzie? She’s alive?” Hope asked still incredulous.

“Yeah. I don’t know where she is now, but she should be in here somewhere.” 

“What about her parents?”

Freya gave her a sad face and stayed silent. 

They hadn’t. 

“Hope, can we go eat? I’m starving.” Nik asked.

“Yeah, sure. Let’s go eat.”

The dining area is quite large and it’s the first time Hope realizes how many people there were in such a small space. 

Well, it looked small since they were underground and sometimes Hope would start feeling very claustrophobic, but it was still a huge underground labyrinth.

Hope wanted to eat something, but as she tried to bite the food she felt nauseous. 

Then the screens in the room start playing a video from Caesar Flickerman and he catches everyone’s attention.

“Hello. Good evening, and a big welcome to all in Panem. I’m Caesar Flickerman. And whoever you are, whatever it is you’re doing, just stop and listen. Because you are going to want to witness this tonight. There has been speculation about what really happened in the Quarter Quell. And here to shed a little light on the subject for us is a very special guest. Welcome to Josie Saltzman.”

Hope opens her mouth in shock along with everyone at the table next to her.  
She can’t believe her eyes as she sees Josie sitting there. Alive. She gets up to walk closer to the screens as if she couldn’t really see from where she was.

“Josie. Why don’t you talk us through what happened in the arena? People are very confused about the events.”

“First..you see, when you’re in the games..it changes you. It’s like you’re not yourself anymore, you’re someone else.”

“You’re alive.” Hope whispers to herself.

“What do you mean by that?” Caesar asks her.

“To kill people...you don’t really want to do it, but then you do. And you start thinking that’s right. That changes you.” 

“Oh, I see.” 

Hope was trying to memorize every piece of her. She was trying to read her eyes, her expressions. She needed to know she was okay. But she didn’t look okay.

She looked as if she was about to cry at her every word and Hope’s heart broke little by little. 

“I tried not to let it change me, but I needed to keep Hope safe. I wanted Hope to live.” Her voice was shaking and a tear ran down her cheek.

“Why weren’t you with her when everything happened?”

“I..I was trying to be a good ally. We had to split up and...then I lost her. Then the lightning hit and the entire force field of the arena just collapsed.” 

“Because Hope is the one who stroke the arrow.”

“She didn’t know...she wasn’t part of everything that was going on. Hope and I...” She sniffles softly and tries to stop crying, but uselessly. “We didn’t know. We just wanted to save each other.”

“I’m sorry Josie, but it still seems suspicious. It looks like Hope was part of the rebel plan.”

“I told you, she wasn’t!” She almost raises her voice. 

Meanwhile Hope was breaking down listening to her.

“Why do you keep protecting me? Please stop..stop.” Hope whispers to herself. 

She doesn’t want them to hurt her anymore than they already were. 

“She just wanted to save me. She wasn’t part of any rebel plan. We didn’t know the others were.” 

“All right, I believe you Josie. Can you say something to the people who are listening?”

Josie moves her eyes to the camera. 

“I want everyone who’s watching to stop and to think about what a civil war could mean. We almost went extinct once before, and we have already lost so much. Let’s not repeat our previous mistakes.”

Suddenly the whole district starts protesting at what she was saying. They started calling her a traitor, a puppet..but Hope knew that she was neither of those things. She could never be.

“Kill each other is not the answer.” She finishes.

\- 

Hope is walking quietly into the woods, making sure no one is following her. She has her bow and arrow in position just in case, then a voice calls at her and she quickly turns around.

It was Mikael with a gun pointed at Josie’s head. 

“If you touch her...” Hope started.

“Then what?! What can you possibly do that won’t make me feel like I won anyway? Shoot an arrow at me? She would still be dead.” 

He pressed the gun to her temple. Josie squeezed her eyes.

“Hope?” She pleaded. 

Hope didn’t know what to do. She had to think fast. She had to be faster than him.

“You’re too slow, Hope.” 

“No!” She screams in terror.

Then a shot. 

Hope wakes up screaming in her bed and suddenly the sliding doors open and Josie walks into her room. Hope gasps for air but feels relieved at the sight of the brunette.

“Josie? You’re here.”

“Of course I’m here. Was it another nightmare?” She looked at her with concern.

“Yeah.” 

Josie lies down next to her and Hope instantly cuddled into her embrace. She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. Her heart slowed down.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?”

“I couldn’t save you. It felt so real.” She whispered while she held on tight to her as if to not let her go. 

“But I’m here. You have me. Always.” 

“And Forever.” Hope whispers to herself. 

Suddenly she can’t feel Josie’s arms around her. She can’t feel that sense of peace anymore. She looks next to her and Josie wasn’t there anymore. She had vanished.

Hope panicked. “Josie? Josie!”

Hope opened her eyes and sat down on her bed breathing heavily. She held her face into her hands and tried to calm down. 

“You had a nightmare?” 

Hope turns to look at her side and sees Nik staring at her. 

“It’s okay. Just the usual.” 

He suddenly leaves his place next to Freya to jump into Hope’s bed and be face to face with her.

“You can talk to me about your nightmares. It might help.”

Hope smiles. “I don’t think anything can help those nightmares.” She says with a sad voice.

“You know you can ask them anything, right? They would give what you want if you just demand it.”

“Who do you think I am? A queen?” She jokes.

“Basically. You could ask for that title too.”

Hope giggles and intertwines her fingers with Nik’s. 

“I miss her too.” Nik whispers.

Hope looks at him quietly. 

“I can sing you a song Josie taught me to help you sleep.” He offered.

Hope smiled softly. “I’d like that.” 

“Just close your eyes, the sun is going down  
You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now  
Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound

Don't you dare look out your window, darling everything's on fire  
The war outside our door keeps raging on  
Hold onto this lullaby even when the musics gone, gone...”

Like that, Hope fell asleep without realizing she had been crying silently the entire song.

-

The next day Hope went to meet President Coin and Finn. Nik had actually inspired her.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet with me. I’ve decided I’ll be your voice, but I have some conditions. Josie and the other tributes, Jade Mason and Annie Cresta, will be rescued at the earliest opportunity. If and when Josie is liberated, you will allow her to stay here and pardon her. No punishments. The same goes for the other Tributes.” 

President Coin looks at Finn and then at Hope again.

“No.”

“It’s not their fault. They’re saying anything to survive in there. The Capitol right now is even worse than the games for them.” 

“You can’t make demands, Hope. There is a tribunal and fair judgment.” 

Hope slams both her hands on the table. 

“Listen to me. I don’t care about who has the power here. But I can tell that you’re begging for me to do your propaganda. If you want me to do this, here are the conditions. I won’t give up on Josie, or the other tributes. And I’m not certainly letting Mikael get away with this. You need me and I’m the only one who can do this.”

“See? That’s her. You have the Hope Mikaelson you wanted.” Finn says to Coin.

“Do you have any other condition?” She asks her.

“Not a condition. But I wanted to know something.”

“Ask.” 

“Where is Lizzie Saltzman?”

-  
Finn knocks on Katherine’s apartment door and opens it, finding her sitting by the table and painting her nails.

“No.”

“I didn’t even say anything.” Finn says frowning.

She looks at Finn.

“Do I have visitors?” 

“Miss Pierce, you do know this door opens from inside out too. You can leave your room whenever you want.”

“It’s still a prison.”

“We have bigger issues, Miss Pierce.”

“Bigger than my lack of clothes choices?”

“Hope agreed to be the voice of the revolution.”

“Poor thing.”

“I need someone who knows her. You worked with her before, she trusts you. And we can’t ask Damon Salvatore to do this.”

“Of course you can’t. You would need to do a sobriety campaign for him at that point.” 

“So you will do it?”

“Deal with Hope’s personality was always Damon’s job. I got along with Josie better. She was more condescending.” 

“Fine. You can stay here and rot. I’ll find someone else.”

Katherine starts laughing. “Who on earth do you think can get Hope Mikaelson to listen to them? Have you ever seen her angry?”

Finn clears her throat. “Yes, I did.”

“She’s like a burning fire. That’s why we call her the girl on fire. She’s unstoppable when it comes to what she wants.” 

“So you will do it?”

She stands up and blows on her fingers to dry her nails.

“Take me to her.” 

\- 

Everyone in the district gathers to her President Coin’s speech.

“Good afternoon. Thank you for interrupting your schedules. They have already been adjusted to compensate for the delay.”

“I don’t see any children here.” Hope whispers to Freya.

“A lot of them were lost in an epidemic a few years ago. Coin lost her family too. Daughter and Husband.” 

“I have an announcement for the citizens of 13, and our welcome guests from 12. Hope Mikaelson has consented to be the face of our cause to help unite the districts against the Capitol.” 

Hope notices Finnick in the crowd and walks into the crowd towards him.

“In exchange, I have promised several concessions. First, we’ll assess all opportunities for the extraction of the Victors held hostage in the Capitol. Jade Mason, Josie Saltzman and Annie Cresta.”

Finnick glanced at Hope and smiled.

“Thank you.”

“Once freed, they will be granted full pardon for any and all crimes committed against the rebel cause. If Hope Mikaelson fails to fulfill her duties, the deal will be off. Thank you for your attention. Please, resume your daily schedules.” 

Despite a few complaints people freed the hallways and went back to their work.

-

Hope walks with Landon into the dining room and notices Katherine sitting at an empty table and her eyes lit up.

“Katherine?”

Katherine looks up and waves. “Hello gorgeous. Oh, hello to you too Hope.” 

Hope rolls her eyes and sits down next to her.

“How are you here?”

“I’m a political refugee. Finn got me out of the Capitol in time.”

“That’s good.”

“Is it really? I miss my fancy dresses and my make up. I feel like I’m constantly naked in here. And I miss coffee.” 

“I bet you do.” She smiles.

Katherine smiles too, a sad smile. Then she hands her a folder.

“Marcel created these for you. They were his secret project. Of course he knew the risks, but he believed in you.”

Hope looked at the drawings of the different outfits Marcel had designed for her.

“He always did.” She said with a sad voice.

“They’re beautiful.” Landon says.

“We have all the dresses. So you’ll be the most well dressed rebel in history. I wish I could be that right now honestly.” Katherine says.

Hope smiles. 

“Oh. And he added also one last touch to it.” She says and shows Hope the round pin with the letter M surrounded by a burning fire.

“It’s perfect.” She smiles. Then she looks at Katherine. “When do we start?”

“I’d say right now.”

-

Finn enters the control room and turns off the big lights while Hope and Katherine are in the studio. 

Hope is dressed with one of the outfits Marcel designed for her and she’s on the platform holding her bow. 

Katherine walks towards her and places the fire pin on her dress. 

“The final touch.”

Hope smiled and then focused her attention on Finn who was talking through the speaker.

“Okay, Hope. We’re ready. Look right into the camera, say what Katherine wrote for you and try to look convincing.” 

“Okay.” 

Hope felt like she was back to act in front of the cameras. Except she was alone and this made her feel suddenly uncomfortable.

“Whenever you’re ready.”

“People of Panem, together we fight to bring justice! Together, we fight to stop the abuses of the Capitol! We..” 

Both Katherine and Finn were looking at her with a terrible frown.

“God, this is so painful to watch. Please let’s stop there.” Damon said walking into the studio.

“Oh, look who finally decided to sober up.” Hope said with arrogance.

Damon smiles and opens his arms. “Happy to see me?” 

“I was doing just fine.” Hope turns his back on him and walks down the podium.

“Sure you were.” 

Hope suddenly turns around with a face that Damon you very well. That was the I’m-about-to-snap- Hope’s face. He had it coming though.

Hope walked towards him and started hitting on his chest.

“You don’t get to come here...” Hit. “And pretend like you didn’t lie to me.” Hit. “Like your conscience is clean. Because it isn’t.” Another hit. “She’s there because of you!” She pushes him with both her hands this time. Damon bumps into the pillar.

“I believe you already know the reason why.”

“I don’t fucking care about the reason why. I cared about one thing. Just _one.”_

Silence fell into the room. Damon felt terrible for sure. He knows that what he did to Hope could never be repaired, not even if they managed to save Josie. But they still had a message to send, and he was the only one who could make this happen.

They all moved to the conference room to meet the President and discuss about the propaganda.

“You all, think about the moments she made you feel like she was real. Because we know she isn’t that good at acting. So think.” Damon said.

“When she volunteered for his cousin Nik.” Katherine said.

“When she cried for Pedro’s death.”

“In the latest games I think she was completely different.” The President says meeting Hope’s eyes. “You were real. Everything you did for her, you meant it.” 

Hope suddenly felt a knot on her throat but she wasn’t going to show how emotional she was in front of everyone in the room.

“So what does all of those things have in common?” Damon asks as if he’s talking to students.

“No one told her what to do. It was all her.”

“Exactly. So maybe we should just leave her be. Wait for the right moment.”

“What right moment? We’re underground. What opportunity can she get? We should toss her into a fight?” Finn asks.

“I’m not sending an untrained eighteen years old girl in a battle just for show.”

Hope let out a laugh. “Oh I think I’m quite trained for that, but sure.”

“We can’t put her on the field.” The President says glancing at Damon.

“People need to see her. They need to see something concrete.” Damon argues back.

“We could send her to District 8. They reported heavy bombing last week. There are no military targets left.” Dorian says. 

“We can’t guarantee her safety.” 

“I don’t care about that. I want to go.” Hope protests.

“Oh yeah? And what if you get killed? What about-“

“President.” Damon quickly interrupts her to stop from doing a great mistake. Talking too much and making Hope mad was not what they needed right now. 

The President sighs and doesn’t argue anymore. 

Hope just stayed silent pretending like she didn’t get what the President meant to say. But she did. 

If she died, what would happen to Josie? 

Just like in the games, she knew she needed to stay alive in order to keep Josie alive and save her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So guys...Lizzie is alive. And this is my favorite change in the story. You’ll see why.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for a more painful reading listen to experience by ludovico einaudi starting when hope comes back to 13 (you’ll know when)

Hope and Landon are in the armory with Dorian who is showing them what he created so far.

“This is an automatic bow. You can try it out.” She hands it to Landon. 

Landon tries to shoot at the target with the bow and as he catches it, the target explodes. Landon smiles impressed.

“This one is for you.” Dorian hands the classic bow to Hope. “I made it fashion though.”

Hope smiled and took the bow in her hands. “Thank you.” 

She takes one of the arrows on the table and gets ready to shoot, but Dorian stops her just in time.

“Not that one. You could kill us all.” He still smiled nicely.

“There are regular arrows, incendiary and explosive. I also have a trident for Finnick for when he...feels ready.”

“Miss Mikaelson.” Rafael calls at her and Hope turns her attention to him. “I believe someone you asked to see is here for you.” 

Lizzie. 

Hope instantly walked out of the room and followed Rafael into the elevator.

“Where is she?”

“Your apartment, I believe.” 

“Okay.” Hope sighed. Then she looked back at him. “And by the way, don’t call me Miss Mikaelson. I’m not as old as you think.” She quoted him. 

Rafael smiled amused and nodded. “All right, Miss Hope.” 

“Don’t use the Miss either!” 

Now he laughed. “Chill Hope. I have a role to play.”

Hope smiled sadly and glanced at him. “Don’t we all.” 

She walked into her room to see Lizzie sitting on her bed with Nik by her side. As she entered the room Lizzie moved her gaze on Hope and smiled nervously. 

“I’m gonna go find moms.” Nik jumps down the bed and walks towards the door as Hope caresses his face before he walks out. 

Hope walks awkwardly to sit in front of Lizzie and think about how to do this. The only time she interacted with Lizzie was when she almost beat her to death and she never apologized for that. Hope believed she would hate her even more now that her sister was held prisoner because of her. 

At least Hope felt it was all her fault. 

What was she thinking when she asked to meet her? 

Suddenly Lizzie breaks the awkward silence.

“Look, Hope. I’m..sorry, about everything. And believe me it’s not easy for me to say this.”

“Oh no I..believe that. I mean I wasn’t hoping for that, but I appreciate it.” 

Lizzie nods and moves her gaze to the floor.

“I’m sorry about your parents.” Hope says softly.

“Yeah.” 

Silence.

“What’s the plan?” Lizzie suddenly asks capturing Hope’s attention.

“What plan?”

“You’re going to get her back, right?” 

“Of course I am.” 

“I want to help.”

“Lizzie..they barely agreed to send me out on the field, you have no experience.”

“Actually I used to train a lot with my dad. After Josie was picked the first time...we were scared. He thought I had to learn how to defend and attack, so he taught me. Josie doesn’t have that experience but I’m glad she managed. And I’m glad she had you.” 

Hope didn’t expect those words from Lizzie. It came as a surprise for sure, but it felt nice to know that Lizzie didn’t hate her as she thought.

“I wish I could’ve done more.” She says with a hint of sadness.

“Are you kidding? You did more than anyone has ever done for her. I would give my life to save her, because she’s my sister. But you...” She shook her head.  
“You didn’t have to do any of that, but you did. And you keep fighting to get her back. I know you care. And just so you know, because of all of this, I could never hate you.” 

Hope smiled widely. “I was kind of hoping you’d say that.” 

Lizzie rolls her eyes and then smirks. “Don’t get too hyped Mikaelson. You’re still on trial with me.” 

Hope chuckled and nodded in understanding. “Fine.”

\- 

“So Hope, quick introductions. These people have come here to support our cause. This is Camille. She’s one of the best up-and-coming directors in the Capitol.” Finn says.

“Then I left. Now I’m just a mediocre director.” She smirks.

“I’ll leave you to it then. Be careful.” He walks out the aircraft and the door closes.

“So this is my assistant, Josh. And your cameramen over there, Aiden.”

“Hello.” Both of them wave at Hope.

“And finally Davina, she’s my wingwoman.” 

They all take seats while the aircraft gets ready to take off. 

“So Finn rescued you from the Capitol?”

“No. We all left on our own. For you.” 

Hope was starting to feel some kind of pressure. It seemed like the whole world depended on her and she never had this kind of responsibility.

The aircraft landed in District 8. 

“We have to be fast.” Rafael says while leading them to the hospital of the district.

At the same time someone was walking towards them. 

“Commander Playor, good to see you. This is Hope Mikaelson, she insisted on seeing some of your people.” 

“Of course, come with me.” 

She leads them to the hospital and walk in an area filled with dead bodies. 

Hope starts feeling actually sick. She saw bodies before but nothing so hard to watch like this. The smell of burned flesh filled the place along with other smells of death.

Hope glanced at Lizzie to check if she was doing okay. 

At last she insisted on going with her, but now Hope felt as if she had someone to look after. She was Josie’s sister. She felt a great responsibility, as if it was Josie’s life itself.

“Hospital’s past that curtain. Any hope you can give them, it’s worth it. The Capitol’s done everything they can to break us.” The Commander says.

“Aren’t you worried about having all your wounded in one place?” Lizzie asks.

“It’s that or either they die out there.”

Paylor moves the courtain and Hope instantly sees the room crowded with people sitting on the floor. There was barely space to walk among them. Hope walked in slowly and looked around her. 

This is what the Capitol had done. What Mikael had done. 

Families, children, all together in one tiny place without even have the chance of a better way. 

It broke her heart. No one deserves to live like this. 

Suddenly the people in the room noticed she was there. 

“Hope Mikaelson? Why are you here?” A boy asked.

“I..I came to see you.” 

“We know you’re not him, Hope Mikaelson. You’re better than him. We have faith in you.” 

“Are you fighting with us Hope? Will you help us take him down?” 

“I am. I will.” 

One of them walks closer and places a hand on Hope’s shoulder. Then someone else gets up and places a hand on her other shoulder. Then everyone started placing a hand on each other’s shoulder, forming an endless human chain, as to swear loyalty to her. As if she was their savior.

Hope felt everything but that. She didn’t know if she could save all those people, all the districts, but she would try.

For Panem, that believed in her. And for Josie. 

-

After a while they were heading out the hospital to go back to the aircraft.

“Will this play in the districts?” Lizzie asks Camille

“It will be tattooed on their eyes.” She smirks.

“We have a problem.” Rafael says.

“What problem?” Lizzie asks.

“Incoming bombers from the north. We need to hide now.” 

“There’s a bunker in there. Follow me.” Paylor says.

They quickly walk behind her inside an abandoned factory, while the noise of the aircrafts becomes more and more clear. 

Suddenly they hear a bomb exploding next to them. 

Hope rushes to a broken wind of the factory to look outside, fearing that it might have taken the hospital.

“Hope! Don’t go there!” Lizzie shouts and follows her.

Hope sees people from district 8 shooting at the bombers in the air, but ten seconds later a bomb explodes right on them, causing Hope and Lizzie to fly a few feet away from the hole in the wall. 

Lizzie is holding Hope and trying to make her stand, while Hope feels whistling in her ears and her head is spinning.

“Hope! We have to walk away from here!” Lizzie screams to overcome the noise of the bombs. 

Hope shakes her head and tries to focus her foggy eyes. 

“Are you okay?” Lizzie asks worried.

“The tower! Move from there!” Rafael screams at them.

Lizzie grabs Hope and pushes her away from there, both of them barely missing the tower collapsing inside the building.

The firebombers keep shooting and they can still hear explosions. 

“They’re moving to South. They’ll take the hospital.” Paylor says with terror in her eyes.

Hope suddenly panics. She can’t let those people die after they just placed their thrust in her. She can’t be responsible for this. 

Hope suddenly ran outside again despite the others calling her to go back inside, but the bombers were already leaving while different points of the district were burning.

Hope looked around her and caught a fog of smoke and fire coming from the hospital. 

“No..no.” She walked all the way over there but there was nothing left. The hospital was completely demolished. No survivors.

Hope cried silently. “Why..” 

“Hope, talk to the people. Can you tell them what you’re seeing?” Camille asks her while Aiden holds the camera behind her and Josh records Hope’s devastated look.

Hope turned around to look at the camera still crying, but her anger was raising. 

“I want the rebels to know that I’m alive. That I’m in District 8 where the Capitol just bombed a hospital filled with unarmed men, women and children! And there is no survivors! If you think for one second that the Capitol will ever treat us fairly you are lying to yourselves. The President doesn’t care about who lives and who dies. This-“ she points at the ruins around her. “is what he does. And President, you can try to burn us down how much you want, but remember that the only thing standing between us and you, is a force field. And that force field, I already broke it once. And I can do it again. And I won’t be alone this time.” 

She turns to Josh’ camera. 

“Soon you will be the one that burns, Mikael. And I will be that fire that makes sure you do.” 

-

Later in the conference room Hope’s speech was replaying on screen.

“Dorian has increased our use of the airwaves tenfold. We will broadcast this message to all the districts tonight. You did good, Hope. He knows you’re a threat to him now.” Finn says.

“He already knew that.” She says.

Hope walks out of the room feeling tired and emotionally exhausted about the day. She goes into her room and stays there for a while watching Nik sleeping.

He was the only one still keeping her sane. She can’t imagine how worse she would feel if she didn’t have him.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door that brought her out of her thoughts. The door opened slowly revealing Lizzie who waved awkwardly at her.

“I asked for a favor to Rafael. We can go hunt above ground.”

“You know how to hunt?” Hope asks curious.

“Not really. But I could use some actual air. Plus I think I’m getting too much pale, my skin needs to feel the sun.” 

Hope chuckled and nodded. “Okay.” 

When they’re out in the woods they suddenly walk into a deer, so Hope hides behind the bushes and keeps Lizzie behind her to show how to catch him.

Hope kept looking at the animal as he kept looking at her, still chewing the grass in his mouth. Somehow she couldn’t bring herself to shoot him. He looked calm and unaffected by their presence there.

And to be honest, after all the deaths Hope had seen and caused, hunting wasn’t so much fun as she remembered. The constant deaths didn’t make her cold blooded. They made her more sensible to it. 

She couldn’t kill that poor thing. She didn’t want to.

Hope lowered the bow. 

“What?” Lizzie asks.

“We don’t really need more food. Let’s just..walk past him.”

She started walking and Lizzie just followed her silently until they arrived at the edge of a river. The sun was shining in the water and the air felt warmer there. 

They sat down there and enjoyed the peace and the nice weather. It almost seemed like they were back to normal. But they weren’t.

“Why didn’t you never tell her?” Lizzie breaks the silence. 

Hope turns her eyes to look at her. “Tell her what?”

“How you feel about her.” 

Hope kept quiet for a while before she talked again. “I guess I didn’t want to get burned if something ever happened to her.”

“Oh, so the girl on fire didn’t want to get burned?” She jokes.

Hope smiles. 

“But what’s the point of not saying it if you still feel it? And also act on it.”

“Because saying it makes it real.” Hope whispers with her gaze fixed on the water.

“Not saying it out loud doesn’t make it less real, Hope. You know it.”

She stayed quiet. Lizzie too.

After about two minutes of complete silence Lizzie took out something from her pocket. She handed Hope a piece of paper.

“What’s that?”

“Josie wrote this before she left for the Quarter Quell. I think she meant for me to find it and give it to you in case things went as she hoped they would. With you alive.” 

“For me?” Hope felt her heart start racing. 

It felt like the first glimpse of closeness to Josie she’d had in a while. The simple thought of Josie talking to her on that note was already making her break from the inside.

She takes the note in her hand and stares at the blank page for a moment.

“I’ll leave you to it. I’ll be down there.” 

Lizzie walks away as Hope finds the courage to open the piece of paper and read it.

She takes a deep breath and stirs her back, then she opens it. 

_Dear Hope,_

_if you’re reading this, it means you’re alive and I’m not, which honestly makes me happy. I owed you this after everything you did for me since the first games.  
We started it as enemies, but then it turned out to be us together against all odds. You protected me and stood up for me from the start, and that was enough to make me realize that I was right about that childish crush I had for you all along. _

_I think it’s safe for me to tell you now, that falling for you was the best thing that could ever happen to me, Hope Mikaelson._

_I probably should have told you before all of this started, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud. Actually I wanted to, but that would have made everything just more painful.  
But it was okay, really. Loving you silently. Watching you from the distance, even when you weren’t watching me.  
I know that you always cared for me in your Hope Mikaelson way. And honestly that was enough for me. You’ve always been enough. You made me feel loved. Needed. You made me brave, so brave, that even if I was in the afterlife I would never stop fighting for you, just like I know you would keep fighting for me too._

_Hope, however this ends, they will try to break you. He will try everything to get to you. But please, do one last thing for me.  
Don’t let him break you. You’re stronger than you think. You’re kind. You’re good.  
Don’t let your nightmares chase you. _

_I’m so sorry I won’t be there to hold you and sing for you to sleep. But you should know that no matter what, wherever I am, I’m still watching over you._

_One last thing._

_Do you remember when you asked me my favorite color? I told you it was sky blue, ocean blue..._

_What I really meant to say, was the color of your eyes.  
I’m gonna hold you on to that day in the woods. I still want to see the colors of fall._

_I love you Hope Mikaelson. I think I always will._

_Yours, Josie._

Hope was sobbing uncontrollably still holding the letter in her hands, already wet with her tears falling all over it. 

She brought a hand on her mouth to choke down the noise of her sobs. She didn’t want Lizzie to hear how desperate she was feeling. She felt the most vulnerable she’s ever been, and it felt awful. 

Suddenly she feels two arms from behind pressing on her sides and holding her into a tight embrace. At that point she wasn’t trying to suppress the noise of her cries anymore.  
She abandoned her back against Lizzie’s chest and let herself feel everything she had been holding inside.

“It’s okay. Let it all out. You’ll feel better.” Lizzie whispers while holding her.

She cried until she didn’t have any more tears to cry. She almost felt drained. It took a while for her to decide to come back to the district. When they did, the first thing they saw walking out the elevator, was Josie on the screen talking to Caesar. Both Lizzie’s and Hope’s eyes lit up.

“I think that it is painful for us all seeing how our favorite tribute turned out to be a rebel. I believe it must be even more painful for you, Josie.” 

Josie was sitting on the sofa with her gaze low. She looked so thin and tired. She looked sick. 

“What did they do to her...” Lizzie says with her voice broken.

“She just made a mistake. She’s not evil like you think.”

“You’re saying that you forgive her for what she did?”

Josie shakes while she looks at her hands and tries to hide the tremors.

“Maybe she’s being forced to say those things.” Josie says.

“It might be. Now we don’t know if the rebels will let her see this, but if you could talk to her right now, what would you say to her?”

“I..would tell her to think for herself. Her family.” 

Then she moved her eyes on the camera. Hope suddenly felt like she could start crying again, watching Josie’s eyes so off and broken.

They were breaking her. 

“Hope, I know you never wanted any of this. You only wanted to save me. And the rebels are making you do things that..are not you. So please...” A single tear runs down her cheek. “Please, stop this now. Please. It’s not worth it.” 

“Why did she do that? She sides with them now?!” Landon says walking towards them out of nowhere. 

“It’s not her...that’s not Josie. They’re doing something to her. I know it.” Lizzie says getting upset. 

“She’s being their messenger of peace!” Landon says aggressively.

“You don’t know what they’re doing to her.” Hope suddenly speaks while she’s sitting by the table with her hands closed in a fist on her mouth, her eyes fixed in a casual spot front of her.

“I wouldn’t have said what they wanted me to say anyway. So much for caring about you.” 

Suddenly Hope stands and walks quickly towards him, but luckily Lizzie steps in between them and stops Hope before she could do something she would regret. 

“Hope, don’t do this.” She whispers. 

Hope has her gaze still fixed on Landon. She’s mad, despite how wet her eyes were from crying, her fury was obvious. 

“Hope. Look at me.” Lizzie calls at her again.

“President Coin is calling a meeting. We need to go.” Landon says and walks away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my hizzie heart <3


	20. Chapter 20

The next day Hope, Landon and the propo team flew with the aircraft to District 12 to shoot another message. 

“We can start from here. Here is where the big screen was. Can you tell us what happened?” Camille asks Landon.

“We were all standing right here watching the Games when you fired that arrow.” He says looking at Hope. 

“The screens just went dark. Nobody had any idea what happened. Peacekeepers forced us back into our homes. For maybe an hour, the town was just dead quiet. Little past nine we heard their trucks pulling out. All of them, every single Peacekeeper. And I knew what that meant. Me and a couple of guys from the mines, we started pulling people from their houses and tried to get them to the fence line but a lot of people were scared of the forest. So they headed up onto the road. Make a break for it that way.” He points the street on his right.

Landon keeps walking to take them where the street full of burned bodies was.

“Nine hundred and fifteen of us made it to the fence. Then we watched as bombers circled back towards the road. They firebombed them as they ran away.” 

The crew was shocked too to see the horror before their eyes. Hope was glad Lizzie wasn’t there. She didn’t want her to relive all of that. 

“Nine hundred and fifteen out of ten thousand. I should’ve grabbed people, I should’ve dragged them with me. Some of the kids I could’ve carried, but...” He says almost breaking down.

“You saved so many people, Landon. Without you there wouldn’t be no one left of the 12.” Camille says.

They turned off the cameras and walked to Hope’s house where they looked for anything that could be of use. 

Hope was in the kitchen looking for Freya’s herbs while Landon was following her movements in silence. Hope notices and looks at him.

“What?”

“I didn’t mean to snap at you last night. I’m sorry.” 

“It doesn’t matter.” 

“I just think she has a choice. She can’t just say those things and turn her back on everyone here.”

Hope closes her eyes and tries to stay calm because she really didn’t want to fight Landon. She knew about his feelings for her and she didn’t want to make it worse. But if he assumed anything about Josie, without trying to see that the Capitol was clearly behind it all, she couldn’t just stay silent. 

“Can you even imagine how it can be to be their hostage? Because that’s what she is. And god knows what they’re doing to her.” 

“But how can she even think to cooperate?! Her family is dead because of them.”

“She doesn’t know! Does she?!” Hope raises her voice. “She doesn’t even know Lizzie is alive.”

“Okay, I get it Hope.” He turns her back at her to walk away.

“Get what?!” She frowns.

“Nothing. Just..let it go.” 

Then he walks out. 

Later Hope and the crew are sitting by the riverbank. Rafael sits next to Hope and hands her some food, but Hope refuses. 

“When is the last time you actually ate something?” He asks.

“Probably before the games.” She answers honestly.

“Jesus, Hope. How are you going to fight if you don’t even have the strength to throw a punch?” He pokes her.

“Do you wanna see if I can?” She asks while showing her fist close to his nose.

“Ohhh. Careful Colonel, this one didn’t come to play.” Camille smirks.

“I believe you have a few soft spots, Miss Mikaelson.”

“I think I liked you more when I first met you.” She says.

“Come on. People don’t have to see only your angry and cold side to believe you’re strong, you know. There are many ways to send a message. To share hope.”

Hope glances at him and then back at the water. Suddenly something came up to her mind. The next thing she knows, she’s singing out loud.

_“Are you, are you coming to the tree? Where they strung up a man, they say who murdered three._

_Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be if we met at midnight in the hanging tree._

_Are you, are you coming to the tree? Where a dead man called out for his love to flee.  
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be if we met at midnight in the hanging tree. _

_Are you, are you coming to the tree? Where I told you to run so we’d both be free._

_Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be if we met at midnight in the hanging tree…_

_Are you, are you coming to the tree? Wear a necklace of hope side by side with me.”_

They listened to her carefully and silently, while Aiden recorded her singing. As they came back to the District, another meeting was called.

“That line was originally “necklace of rope.” She changed it to “necklace of hope.” Finn says.

“Wow, she’s becoming good at this.” Damon says.

“I think it’s because she really believes in what we’re doing now.” Dorian says.

“Every district’s seeing this?” President asks.

“Yes. But not the Capitol. I designed this signal defense system for them, but I can’t find my way through it. I will keep trying though.” Dorian says.

-

Later that evening Hope was in the dining area sitting with Lizzie and Nik when Rafael approached her.

“Hope? There’s something you need to know.” 

He catches also Freya’s and Keelin’s attention. 

“People from other districts came together and assaulted the the dam. They blew the whole thing up and cut off the power for the entire Capitol.” 

“What? Why?”

“Because it’s war, Hope. Now..I need you to come with me in Command.” 

Hope follows him in the command room and as she walks in she sees Josie on the big screen talking to the camera.

Hope dropped her gaze in shock at seeing her even worse than the last time. She had purple bags under her eyes and her skin looked dry and pale.

“Tonight, we’ve received reports of derailed trains, of granaries on fire, and of a savage attack on the hydroelectric dam in District 5.” Josie says.

“What are they doing to you?” Hope whispers, her voice shaking. 

“Please, I’m begging. This needs to stop now.” Josie continues.

“And now...we’re on.” Dorian presses a few buttons and suddenly Hope’s video walking in the District and singing the song appears on screen. 

Suddenly Josie’s gaze freezes and her bottom lip shakes as she stops talking and breathing for a second.

“Hope?” 

Hope starts crying and covers her mouth with her hand. 

“She sees it.” President Coin says.

The propo keeps appearing and disappearing on screen because of the low frequency, but it was still showing.

“Hope, is that you?” Josie’s eyes becomes full with tears.

“It’s me..” Hope says to herself, but how she wished Josie could actually hear her.

“Josie, please continue. You were telling us about the attacks.” Caesar urges her.

Josie lowers her gaze letting the tears fall and then clears her throat to compose herself. Then she looks at the camera again.

“The attack on the dam was a callous and inhuman act of destruction..”

But the video appears again. Josie tries to stay calm and keep talking.

“Think about it. How will this end? Who will survive? There will be no one left.” She takes a deep breath, preparing for what she was about to say next. “No one is safe, Hope. They’re coming. They’re gonna kill everyone, Hope. Please.” 

Suddenly the stream is interrupted and the last thing Hope could see was two guards grabbing Josie by her arms and dragging her out of the cameras. 

Hope turns to look at Damon, panic in her eyes.

“They’re going to kill her. They...we need to get her out of there Damon..” She shakes while Damon places his hands on her arms to keep her calm.

“We will, Hope. But right now we have to be ready. They’re coming.” 

“Is there anything in the air?” President asks.

“Nothing here ma’am.” An operator says.

“It’s time for an air raid drill. Give the alarm.” President says.

Suddenly the alarm goes off and the computer voice leads the people to the lower level. Hope gets out of the command room to go find Nik and her aunts.

“This is a code red alert. Please, remain calm and begin evacuation protocol.”

“Aunt Freya?! Nik?!” 

“Proceed to your nearest stairwell and descend to level 40. Blast doors will be  
sealed in six minutes.” 

“Aunt Freya?!” She calls again.

“Hope! What are you doing here? Go down!” Keelin tells her.

“Where are aunt Freya and Nik?” 

“I will find them. You go down there.”

“No! You go look for them there, I’ll look in the room.” Hope says.

Before Keelin could argue Hope was already running up the stairs to the hallway of their room.

“This is a code red alert. Please, remain calm and begin evacuation protocol. Proceed in an orderly fashion to your nearest stairwell and descend to level 40. Blast doors will close in four minutes.” The air raid drill says into the speakers.

Suddenly the lights go off and the water starts pouring down inside. 

“Aunt Freya?!” 

The stairs were almost empty. And Hope kept going up but there was no sign of them.

Suddenly Hope hears the first bomb exploding. Everything shakes under her feet.

“Nik?!” 

“The doors will close in two minutes.” The speakers says.

“Hope! We’re here! We’re here!” Freya screams while running down the stairs with Nik ahead of her.

Hope feels relieved but now they needed to run or they would be trapped in there once the doors closed.

“Run! The doors are closing!” Hope screams and pushes them in front of her while she follows.

“Door closing in thirty seconds.”

Hope sees the doors barely open, there’s just one small spiral to pass through and Freya and Nik make it in time. She does too. For once she’s glad she’s so tiny she could pass through everything.

She catches her breath trying to recover from the long moment of panic and then glances at both Freya and Nik.

“Where were you two?!” She says almost angry.

“We were coming down but then Nik went back and I had to follow him.” Freya explains.

“Why?! Why would you go back?!” Hope yells at Nik now. She probably never had before. 

“I wanted to take the coat! I thought you needed it!” Nik justifies himself.

“What coat?!” She yells again.

“This one!” Nik raises his voice too and hands Hope the coat he had been keeping in his bag. 

Her coat. Josie’s coat. 

Hope stares at the coat in her hands and her breathing starts to slow down. She looks at Nik again.

“I thought you needed it. Because it’s the only thing..” 

He can’t finish his sentence because Hope pulls him into a tight hug. She kisses his head and embraces him even tighter. 

“Thank you.” She whispers. “But don’t ever, ever do that again.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” 

The bombs keep exploding on their heads. Everyone is sitting on the bunk beds and holding each other every time a bomb explodes and the entire ceiling trembles and cracks. 

Hope is sitting next to Nik while Freya and Keelin seat behind them on the bunk bed. 

“Nik? Talk about something. Anything.” Hope asks.

“I..I think I passed my test to be a doctor, like mom.” 

Keelin smiled proudly and Hope did the same.

“Of course you did. You’re a Marloux and a Mikaelson. You can do anything.” 

There’s another bomb explosion. 

Suddenly Hope’s eyes catch Finnick on a bed a few feet from hers. She walks over there since she hadn’t really talked to him in a while and she wanted to check on him.

“Can I seat?” She asks.

He looks up at her and sits to make her space. “Yeah.”

He was looking at a picture of Annie. 

“He’s using them to punish us. But I won’t let him get away with this.” Hope tells him as to make him a promise.

Finnick turns to look at her. “After your first Games, I thought the whole romance was an act. And maybe it was, at first. I don’t know. But then I saw how you nearly died when Josie’s heart stopped. How you nearly died every time she nearly did. And how she was willing to do the same for you.” He pauses. 

“I don’t know if you’ve realized it yet..” 

Hope smiles and interrupts him. “Believe me, I have.” 

Finnick gives her a sad smile. 

“How do you live with it?” Hope asks him.

“I drag myself out of nightmares and there’s no relief in waking up. But it’s better not to give in to it. It takes ten times longer to put yourself back together than it does to fall apart.” 

Hope could relate to that feeling. Maybe Finnick could understand her more than anyone. 

They both had someone they love been taken away.

-

“Hope? Hope.” Rafael calls her whispering to wake her up. She opens her eyes and rubs them sleepy. 

“What?”

“Come with me.”

He leads her to the controls room where the President and Finn are.

“Is your family okay?” She asks Hope.

“Yes, thank you.”

“I need you to do something for us. I need you to tell Panem that we survived an attack by the Capitol. That we’re completely untouched.”

“Okay.” She simply agrees.

“You should know we had extra minutes for the evacuation thanks to Josie. We won’t forget that.”

“Thank you.” Hope says. 

Hope and the crew walk outside to see the amount of damage and the ground covered in hundreds of white roses. Hope picks up one and frowns.

“Why would they drop these?” Lizzie asks confused.

“For me.” She whispers. 

Something flashes into her mind. It was a long lost memory. She was a child. She has a trauma that she carries with her, but many parts of her life the first year after her family’s death were just buried way deep. 

She remembers a man approaching her and handing her a white rose. Her memory focuses on his face. It’s Mikael.

Her aunt grabs her and pushes her away from the porch. Freya starts yelling at the man. 

Then another memory. She’s sitting in her garden painting on a stone, when she notices a bouquet of white roses placed under the trees dedicated to her family. 

“Hope? Hope! Try the line. Come on.” Katherine calls at her.

She’s suddenly brought back out of her thoughts and started panicking.

“He’s going to kill her. She..she might be dead already.” She whispers gasping for air.

“What? Hope, say after me: 13 is alive and so am I.” Katherine keeps saying.

“I can’t..I need to know.” 

“You can do this Hope.” Camille says.

“No..if I keep doing this she’s going to die. What if she’s dead? Oh god..” Hope shakes and starts to panic.

“Okay, Hope? Deep breaths. Hey.” Lizzie tries to get her attention.

“She warned me. She asked me to stop and I kept going. She..” Hope starts crying. “She’s in pain. They’re hurting her to hurt me. I can’t. I can’t...” 

“Hope.” Damon calls.

“No! I can’t do this!” She raises her voice and walks away.

Hope sits in her hiding place for hours to try and calm herself down, but she can’t. She can’t help thinking about Josie being punished because of her. After how hard she tried to keep her safe, after how hard both of them fought to protect each other.

To her misfortune Damon finds her and sits with her.

“So, I suppose this is your anti panic room?”

“You’re unbelievable.” Hope shakes her head.

“Okay, I’m sorry.” He raises his hands to surrender.  
“I can’t do this anymore.”

“You might just stop here.” 

She looks at him. “What do you mean?” 

“They’re rescuing Josie.” 

Hope’s eyes widened. “What?” 

“The dam went down in District 5, took out most of the power to the Capitol, knocked out their signal defense. Dorian is inside their system now wreaking all kinds of havoc. I don’t know how much time we have. I guess until the Capitol can get the power back on.”

“I have to help.” She tries to stand up but Damon pushes her back down. 

“Hey, hey, kiddo. Wait. Are you just gonna jump out of the vent and go storm the Capitol? Besides, it’s already underway. Six soldiers went in. Volunteer only.”

“Who volunteered?” 

Damon stays silent.

“Damon!” Hope raises her voice.

“Lizzie. Lizzie volunteered.” 

“What?”

“She’s more trained than everyone else in here. We had to agree.” 

“What if something goes wrong?!” She yells. “Oh god. Not again..” She breaths heavily and places a hand on her chest.

“Hope? Look at me.” 

She does. 

“We need you to do your part. Can you do this?” 

She nods lightly. 

She had to. The only thing giving her strength was the hope that she would see Josie alive and safe. That, if the rescuing mission went as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...the coat 🥺
> 
> also, the hanging three is a must, i had to keep it.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i felt like this chapter was too short and poor so i’ll double update again 😂 
> 
> enjoy the end of part 3.

Camille gets Finnick in front of the camera to make the propo video that they were going to show to the Capitol, while everyone else is in the control room following every movement of the rescue. 

“Finnick, are you good?” Camille asks him.

“Yeah. I’m good.” He says. Although he was clearly feeling uncomfortable, but his story was something important that everyone needed to hear.

“Okay. Take your time. Just remember to keep talking, don’t stop.” 

“Okay.”

He looks into the camera and straightens his shoulders, then he starts talking.

“This is Finnick Odair, winner of the 65th Hunger Games. And I’m coming to you from District 13, alive and well. We’ve survived an assault from the Capitol, but I’m not here to give you recent news.”

“Why is Finnick doing a propo?” Hope asks Finn confused.

“It’s more than that.” 

“Dorian is in their system.” Dahlia says.

“Now that they’re down to generator power there’s a more limited range of frequencies available to them. And I’m filling them all up with Finnick.” Dorian says.

“How is this helping?” Hope asks.

“What they don’t know is this broadcast is jamming their entire system with noise. Early defense warning, internal communications, everything. As long as the broadcast goes through, our team should be able to get in and out without them noticing.” 

Hope moves her attention back to Finnick’s video.

“The truth, not the myths about a life of luxury. Not the lie about glory for your homeland. You can survive the arena. But the moment you leave, you’re a slave. President Mikaelson used to sell me, or my body, at least. I wasn’t the only one. If a Victor is considered desirable, the President gives them as a reward or allows people to buy them. If you refuse, then he kills someone you love.”

Hope couldn’t imagine the nightmare of living like that. Finnick was only fourteen when he entered the world of the Capitol and he went through abuses for years. 

Surviving the games was never good.  
Probably dying in there was a mercy. 

Hope moved her attention to the screen next to the one showing Finnick and sees the team entering the Tribute center building. They slowly go down with the ropes and reach the inside, completely wrecked and apparently abandoned.

“See, I know all the depravity, the deceit and the cruelty of the Capitol’s pampered elite. But the biggest secrets are about our good President. Such a young man when he rose to power, such a clever one to keep it. How, you may ask, did he do it? One word. Poison. There are so many mysterious deaths to adversaries. Even to allies who were threats.” Finnick continues.

Meanwhile the team was walking carefully into the building, with flashes on and guns ready for any inconvenience. 

“Clear.” Rafael says. Another soldier steps forward.

The more Hope was watching and the more she felt her nerves going crazy. It was almost as if she needed to take away her look and watch Finnick from time to time to take a break. 

She was not only worried because everything could go wrong and they would lose the only chance to save Josie and the others, but also because if anything happened to Lizzie, Hope wouldn’t be able to live with that. 

“Mikael would drink from the same cup, to deflect suspicion. But antidotes don’t always work, which is why he wears roses that reek of perfume. Help cover the scent of blood from sores in his mouth that will never heal. But he can’t hide the scent of who he really is. He kills without mercy. He rules with deception and fear.” Finnick keeps talking.

“Lizzie? Check.” Rafael says while the camera focuses between them.

They open a door and find themselves into an empty lab, completely ruined.  
There are weird surgical instruments placed on the tables and lots of blood test tubes. 

“What is this place?” Rafael asks.

Suddenly there’s a flash of light and the signal fades.

“Dorian? What’s wrong?” Hope panics.

“I’m losing them.” Dorian says while pushing different buttons.

“Ma’am, the Capitol air defense system is rebooting. It’s coming back online.” An operator says.

“They must be diverting power from another source and filtering transmissions. Another sixty seconds and we’ll be cut off.” Dorian says panicking too.

“Should we call back the hovercraft?” Another operator says.

“No! Wait. Broadcast me. I’ll talk to him, I’ll buy them time.” Hope offers. 

“Yes, do that.” Finn agrees.

“Okay. Put her on.” The President says.

“Okay Hope, he can see you. Talk now.” Dorian says.

“Mikael? It’s Hope. I need to talk to you.”

No answer. The screen is still grey and white. 

“Mikael? It’s Hope! Can you hear me?”

Still nothing.

“President. Can you hear me?!” She says with more seriousness.

Everyone is about to give up, but not Hope.

“President...”

“What’s the urgency girl on fire?” Mikael asks appearing on screen. “I don’t think you’re calling to thank me about the flowers.” 

“I never asked for any of this. And I never wanted to be in the Games. You started this. You..killed my family. And now you’re obsessed with killing me.” 

Meanwhile Hope hears Dorian struggle trying to get back in contact with the team. Hope was scared to death for Lizzie but she had to focus on her conversation with Mikael. She had to keep him busy.

“Please just let Josie go and you will never hear of me again.” 

Mikael starts laughing as if she had just made a joke. 

“Waithe? Waithe?! Do you hear me?” Dorian kept calling for Rafael.

“You can’t run from this, little girl. You already did too much and I can’t pretend you won’t be a threat to me anymore. You will always be. Just like your father was.” 

If Hope’s attention was distraught by the thought of the team in danger, now Mikael had her full attention. She fixed her eyes on the screen and closed her hand in a fist. Her bottom lip started trembling, while her anger started to take over.

“Then why take Josie? It’s me that you want. You want to kill me just like you did with my family? Fine. Take me and leave her.”

“It’s Waithe. Copy.” Rafael finally answers.

Mikael laughs again. “We’re past the time for noble sacrifices, Hope. I think you tried enough of that.”

“Waithe, we’re running out of time, be quick.” Dorian says on the radio. 

“Then what do I have to do?” Hope asks Mikael.

“You said you didn’t want this but somehow you still went on with it. With your propaganda and asking for Panem to trust you. Peace is something fragile, Hope. And you played with it until you broke it.”

“I didn’t break it. You did. You’re the one who started going after me after the first games, you’re the one who was so obsessed with killing me that you managed to get me into the arena for the second time. You can’t play with fire and expect you’re the only one who won’t get burned, Mikael.” 

“Is that so?” 

“Command, we’re at the first target. Preparing to extract Josie. We will confirm when she’s in hand.” Rafael says.

“Command 2, prepare hovercraft for evacuation.” Dorian says to the pilot.

“I believe you’re the one who got burned already, Hope.” He pauses. “At first I told you I didn’t believe you, but now I have to say, I’m impressed by how strong your feelings are for this girl. Your biggest mistake was fall in love during the games. I might dare to say, that love, is what really ruined it for you.” 

“What..” 

Hope can’t understand the meaning of what he says. Why would her love for Josie be the cause for all of this? It wasn’t. It was him. 

“Love...is the greatest destroyer of all, Hope. And I believe that the love you have for that girl will kill you sooner than you think.” 

“You don’t know-“ She starts, but she’s interrupted.

“Do you think I don’t know your friends are in the Tribute Center now?” He move his gaze at his crew. “Cut them off.” 

Suddenly the screen goes blank and Mikael is gone.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Hope asks with her eyes wide.

“Waithe, do you copy? Waithe?!” Dorian keeps calling.

“He knows they’re in there, it’s a trap.” Hope says panicking.

“Hope, keep it together.” Damon says. But being Hope Mikaelson’s voice of reason was not for anyone.

“They have to get out of there now. Try to warn them!” She yells at Dorian.

“There’s no signal. We can’t reach them.” Finn says.

Hope starts breathing heavily and her eyes are soon wet with tears. Damon tries to get closer to keep her calm but she starts panicking even more. 

“They’re gonna die in there. He was playing with me. He’s gonna kill them all. Josie, Lizzie...oh my god, Lizzie.” She shakes and Damon tries to keep her still.

“Hope, we don’t know that. Stop assuming, stop it.” He hugs her while she breaks down in tears in his arms.

“What if they both die? Damon I can’t...I would never forgive myself for that. I can’t lose them, I can’t...” She sobs with her face buried in his chest.

“It’s okay. Hope, you need to go and calm down. Okay? If there’s any news, if they’re safe, we’ll know once they’re out of the Capitol. We just have to wait.” 

But Hope didn’t know how to wait. How do you just sit and wait for someone to come to you and hope for them to give you the good news? Or the worst one? 

She walked out of the command room and went to the dining area where Nik was to keep her company. At the moment he was probably the only presence Hope could think to be around. The only one who could give her some reason.

She’s sitting by the table with her head abandoned on her hand, her face still wet with tears and her eyes fixed on the table. She seemed almost in a trance. Nik just held her other hand and stared at her for a while. 

“She can’t be dead, I would know it.” Nik says.

Hope smiles weakly while another tear falls directly on the table. 

“How would you know that?”

“Doctor feeling.” She shrugs his shoulders and smiles. Hope smiles back.

“Plus, she can’t die without knowing you love her too.” He adds.

Hope looks up again and meets his eyes with surprise on her face.

“I found the letter.” 

“You snarky little-“

“Hey. I have to know everything. If you don’t talk, I’ll find the answers myself. I’m your best friend.” Nik stated.

She smiles again and squeezes his hand. “Yes you are.” 

Hope notices Nik’s eyes looking up behind Hope and she turns around to see Finnick standing there with a worried face. He sits next to Hope and stays silent.

“Wanna spill some secrets now, Mikaelson?” He chuckles, but he’s actually really sad.

“I think you’re a really nice person.” Finnick looks up at her in surprise. “And that I’m sorry I played hard to trust.” Hope finished.

“I think you’re a really nice person too, Hope Mikaelson.” He smiles. 

Suddenly Damon enters the room and both of them sit straight almost instantly and look at him.

“They’re back.”


	22. Chapter 22

Both Hope and Finnick rush to the hospital and the first person that Hope sees is Jade, who is smirking at her smoothly despite the fact that she looked very sick. 

“Hi Mikaelson, good to see you again.” 

“Annie!” Hope hears Finnick scream.

“Finnick! Oh my God.” 

Annie jumps in his arms and then they share a sweet kiss. Finnick’s energies seemed to be back almost instantly. His dead look disappeared. He felt happy again, with the love of his life in his arms.

Suddenly Hope moves her gaze to her right and catches Lizzie in the corner. Her face lits up immediately and runs to embrace her.

“You’re okay.” She lets out a breath of relief.

“Were you..worried about me?” Lizzie frowns but she still hugs her back.

“Of course I was.” Hope says. 

Lizzie smiles but her smile doesn’t last for long. Hope notices that weird look on her face. It does not seem good.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“She just...she looks so tiny and..” 

“I’m sure she’ll be okay. They’re going to take care of her.” Hope says trying to reassure her. But also she needed reassurance for herself too.

“She’s in there if you want to see her. She should be waking up now.” Lizzie says pointing at the door.

She walks to the room as Rafael follows her and walks in with her. 

Hope sees that Josie was sitting on the bed and massaging her wrists. It’s like she didn’t even hear the door opening. Hope walks slowly to the bed and calls her name with a soft voice.

“Josie?” 

The brunette raises her gaze and seems emotionless for a moment. As if she hadn’t even recognized Hope. 

“Hey. How are you feel-“

“What is she doing here?” She asks with an anger in her voice that surprises even Hope. 

“Jo, it’s me..”

“I should’ve killed you when I had the chance.” She says, her anger starting to raise even more. 

Hope has to stop herself from feeling hurt because that couldn’t be Josie. She would never say that to her. Josie would never want to kill her...

“What..” She whispers.

She doesn’t have the time to say something that Josie jumps on her and pushes Hope on the floor, slamming her back and head so hard that she has to keep her eyes closed for a few seconds, but Josie was now on top of her trying to strangle her, while Hope tried to free herself from Josie’s grip.

“Josie! Stop it! Leave her!” Rafael screams and tries to grab her and drag her away, but she seems stronger than she ever was before. 

Hope can’t even try to catch more air anymore, she feels her strength abandoning her, but luckily Rafael manages to put Josie to sleep with an anesthetic just in time.

Hope instantly feels Josie’s body fall on her side and her hands releasing her neck. She starts coughing and gasping for air. 

“Hope? Are you okay?” Rafael asks.

Hope only manages to nod, but in truth she was far from okay.

“I’ll get the doctor.” Rafael runs outside leaving Hope sitting on the floor and watching Josie looking almost dead on the floor.

She couldn’t cry. She couldn’t allow herself to cry. She had to stop crying. 

Lizzie runs into the room and her gaze lands first on Josie, then on Hope. She rushes to her side and cups her cheeks to face her. 

“Are you okay?!” 

Hope nods once again and Lizzie puts Hope’s arm around her shoulders and carries her out of the room.

Later everyone is in Hope’s hospital room as she lies in bed and Finn explains the situation to all of them.

“It’s called hijacking. We don’t know how long she’s been under this.” He says.

“It’s fear conditioning enhanced with tracker jacker venom. The venom puts the subject in a dissociative state. And they torture her with shocks and beatings and strip down her identity. And then all of that suffering and fear is redirected, associated with other memories or a person.” Dorian explains.

“They...changed her memories of Hope?” Lizzie asks frowning.

“Probably even other memories about herself. But most definitely about Hope. Now she sees her as a threat.” 

Hope abandoned her head on the pillow and fixed her gaze on the ceiling. 

This couldn’t be happening. Just when she thought she could have it all...

Lizzie placed a hand on her arm to comfort her. 

“What about the memories she has of me?” Lizzie asks.

“We should test that. If you go to see her then we can study her reaction.” Finn says. 

Hope knew now what Mikael meant by saying that love would kill her soon. 

He had turned Josie into a weapon. The person she loved wanted to kill her and there was nothing worse that Hope could imagine. 

She had the worst feeling in the pit of her stomach. She felt as if her entire body was slowly giving up.

She felt tired. 

She felt broken, while Josie had begged her not to let them break her. But they had.

In her head she kept apologizing to Josie. 

_I’m so sorry, I can’t._

It hurts like hell, thinking that she can only talk to Josie in her head now. When all she wanted to do was to really talk to her about everything that happened. Everything that changed for her. 

How much she loved her. 

_I can’t. Not if you hate me._

_Not if you don’t love me._

Hope suddenly felt someone shaking her trying to make her open her eyes.

She hadn’t realized she was sobbing with her eyes closed and now everyone were gone. Only Freya was next to her. 

“Hey baby...it’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” She says softly while caressing her hair. 

But Hope can’t stop crying. She can’t stop thinking about the awful reality of Josie not loving her. Not wanting to protect her. Not catching her from her nightmares.

“Aunt Freya why did I have to lose her? I can’t keep doing this, not like this...” She keeps wiggling herself in her bed as if she was delirious. 

She was in fact burning up, Freya noticed.

“Hope, they will do everything they can to help her. They have a team working on it.”

But Hope didn’t seem to be actually listening.

“I did everything for her. Everything was for her..” She kept sobbing.

Freya almost started crying herself. Seeing Hope like this was painful for her. She got up and took a syringe and let the sedative run into Hope’s IV. 

Just like that, she was asleep. 

\- 

While the doctors and two soldiers were getting ready to let Lizzie into Josie’s room, President Dahlia Coin was giving a speech to the District.

“Good evening. Yesterday, I authorized a covert rescue mission inside the Capitol. I am pleased to announce that the Victors have been liberated!”

The crowd cheers. 

“With this day we mark an history change. Thanks to Hope Mikaelson, we’ve sent a clear message to the Capitol, that we will never endure injustice again.”

The crowd cheers again.

“Let today be the day we promise never to give up, never to give in until we have made a new Panem, where leaders are elected, not imposed upon us.”

Meanwhile Lizzie enters the room where Josie is. She’s awake with her gaze fixed on the ceiling.

“We can conquer this stronghold because we are one people, one army, one voice. Because today is our new beginning. Today we have freed the Victors. Tomorrow, Panem!” Dahlia concludes.

The crowd cheers one last time.

Lizzie reached Josie’s bed and hesitantly placed a hand on her arm to get her attention.

“Josie?”

Josie slowly moves her gaze to Lizzie. Their eyes meet. At first her expression is unreadable to Lizzie, but then she sees a tear falling down her cheek. 

“Lizzie? You’re alive?” She cries. 

Lizzie smiles between tears and closes the distance to hug her and leave soft kisses on her forehead. 

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry this happened to you...” 

Josie closes her eyes and finally feels relief for the first time after long weeks of being capture. 

“It’s okay. You saved me.” 

Lizzie frowned almost in pain thinking about Hope and how she really was the one to thank. But she couldn’t say that.

“What do you remember?” Lizzie asks carefully now facing her. 

“You mean before I woke up on a lab table?” She jokes. 

Then she becomes serious again.

“We were working on the plan. And she turned her back on everyone. She betrayed us. She wanted to kill us all.” She says angrily, but trying to hold it together.

“Who..? Who wanted to kill you?” Lizzie asked calmly, careful not to upset her too much.

“Hope.” She pauses. “She wanted to kill me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’ll see you for the fourth and last part of the ride <3


	23. Chapter 23

Hope is sitting on her hospital bed for the second time in two weeks. 

After her first encounter with Josie, which didn’t go really well, she tried to see her again a second time behind everyone’s back. 

She should’ve known better than think that Josie would actually recognize her for who she is and not for who they made her believe she was. 

This time, Josie managed to give her a concussion by just hitting her head against Hope’s. It was unbelievable the amount of strength she had, but it was all the Capitol’s doing. They had turned her into a hybrid.

Finn walked into the room and looked at her with a conscious smile on his face.

“I’m glad my pain puts a smile on your face.” Hope says annoyingly while closing her eyes. She had the worst headache. 

“We told you not to talk to her. She’s dangerous around you.” 

Hope sighs and keeps her eyes fixed on the ceiling. She was visibly sad. 

“I know.” She pauses. “I just..thought she would remember something that was real.” She says in a lower voice, almost fearing to give voice to her thoughts out loud. And to Finn, of them all.

“She needs time. But we can try something different.”

“Which is?”

“Your cousin.”

Hope opens her mouth and then speaks harshly. “There’s no way you’re letting Nik near her.”

“So you do realize she’s dangerous.”

She did. She just didn’t want it to be true. 

“What about Lizzie?”

“She was good with her that one time. But we wanted to see how she reacted around a person closer to you.” 

Hope thought about it for a moment. 

“We will make it safe, Hope. Don’t worry.” Finn reassures her.

She sighs and looks at him. “Fine. But I’m supervising too.” 

Later that day Hope and Finn were outside Josie’s hospital room watching her from behind the glass. She couldn’t see them of course. 

Seeing her like that still made Hope sad. She had been tied up and tortured for weeks in the Capitol and now she was back to being tied up and fighting her own mind. 

And she held herself responsible for that. 

Suddenly the door of Josie’s room opened and Nik walked in to sit next to her. 

“Hi Josie.” He says sweetly.

Josie seems surprised to see him there, but somehow she manages to give him a smile.

“Nik, hi.” 

“How are you feeling?”

“Like an animal in a cage.” She chuckles softly.

Nik gives her a sad smile. “You’ll feel better soon. They’re taking good care of you.”

“Why are you here?” 

“I just wanted to see how you were doing. I missed you.” 

“I missed you too.” She smiled kindly. “Do you know if my family is here? I haven’t seen my sister since I’ve got here. They won’t tell me why I can’t see her.”

“Oh, well...” Nik says nervously. 

“What? You can tell me.”

He gives her an apologetic look. “They didn’t make it Josie, I’m sorry.” 

Josie’s small smile drops in a second. She swallows hard and her eyes seem to be emotionless again for a moment. Then she starts breathing heavily.

“It’s her fault. It’s Hope.” 

“No Josie...” He shakes his head.

“So who’s fault is it?!” She raises her voice.

Nik’s body stiffens but he tries to hide it, not wanting to upset her more. 

“She only tried to do the right thing.”

“Did she say that?” She laughs. “She lied. She’s a liar. Don’t trust her Nik.”

Nik decides that not disagreeing with her is the most reasonable thing to do. So he just nods.

“She will destroy us, Nik. See what she did to me?!” She says starting to get agitated and with tears in her eyes. 

“Yeah. I see.”

“Kill her Nik. You have to kill her.” 

Hope was listening to the conversation with her heart pounding loudly in her chest and suddenly the space around her started too feel too small.

Hearing that caused Hope real physical pain. She had to walk away from there, so she did, trying to fight the tears from coming out.

At this point, she wishes Josie would have just killed her when she had the chance.

-

Hope went to the conference room and walked in without any notice, finding President Dahlia Coin and Finn sitting around the table, probably discussing about something.

As she walks in their eyes are on her.

“Hope. I didn’t expect you here.” Says the President surprised.

Hope stays silent and walks to seat in front of her. 

“Please, take a seat.” The President says sarcastically. Hope only gives her a pointed look that the President chooses to ignore.

“What can I do for you?”

“Mikael has to pay for what he’s done. I want to help the rebels in any way that I can.”

“Hope, I know it’s hard for you...”

“Save it.” She stops her. “Just send me to the Capitol.”

“I can’t send you there, Hope. Not until we control district 2. There are still sympathizers of the Capitol and we have to get our hands on the armory.”

“Then send me there. I can talk to them. I can bring them on our side.”

There’s a moment of silence. 

“Okay. You can go.” 

-

Hope is sent to District 2 with the soldiers of District 13 and the new recruits that were Lizzie and Landon. 

Both of them were now considered officially soldiers, trained enough to take part on this operation.

Hope wakes up from her nap, hearing everyone starting to get ready to land. She‘s putting on her coat when Landon seats on her bed.

“I saw Josie before we left.” 

“I take that she went soft on you considering you’re here.” Hope says without looking at him, still focused with her gaze on her clothes.

“She’s not herself, Hope. I’m not even sure she will ever go back to being the person you used to know.”

“It’s okay Landon. You don’t have to be jealous of her anymore.” She says while putting on her shoes.

Landon shakes his head. “No, Hope. That’s not it. I wouldn’t stand a chance anyway.” 

At that point Hope meets his eyes. 

“You would never let her go.” 

And he was right. She couldn’t. Even if Josie wasn’t the Josie she knew, the girl she fell in love with, she wouldn’t be able to put her heart out there for anyone. 

Josie was always the one who had it.

“Thirty minutes until touchdown. Prepare for landing.” Rafael shouts to everyone in the aircraft.

Hope gets up and walks to Lizzie and Dorian, who is explaining to her something about weapons and attack. 

“This one is designed to blind. Smoke clings to the eyes.”

“Nice.” Lizzie says.

“That's an application of the hummingbird trap. You scare people so they flee in this direction into what they think is a safe haven.” 

“Then there’s the double bomb explosion.” Lizzie stated looking at the screen.

“Yes. One goes off here, the other here.” He points on the screen.

“I guess there are no rules about what a person can do to another.” Hope says a little judgmental.

“I don't think Mikael used any rulebook when he hijacked my sister.” Lizzie says.

Hope instantly feels bad for even using that tone. Of course Lizzie wanted revenge, and Hope wanted it just as much as her. But if she had learned something from all of this, was that going against Mikael and against the Capitol was not only something personal anymore. It was about the people and the peace everyone deserved. 

After a few minutes the aircraft landed at District 2.

“Welcome to District 2. I’m Coporal Homes, follow me.”

They sat around a long table with soldiers and other loyalists, while President Coin was following the meeting on screen. The table showed a 3D map of the District. 

“President Coin, we're indebted to you for the reinforcements and the support of the girl on fire. But I'm not sure that anyone outside of 2 knows what we've been up against.” 

Commander Lyme touches the map.

“This is the nut. The Capitol's headquarters for all offensive operations. It's manned by both military and civilian personnel from district 2. As you can see, the fortress lies so far beneath the bedrock, it's untouchable.” She pauses.

“Yesterday, we attempted to take the northeastern gate. The enemy countered from higher up and we were forced to pull back. We took heavy losses.” Commander Lyme says lowering her voice in sadness.

“Could we create a decoy? Send troops towards one gate, launch a staggered attack on another.” Another commander proposes.

“Whose troops do you propose as a decoy, commander?” Commander Paylor asks.

“We have the girl. Don’t underestimate her. She may be able to convince some of the loyalists.” President Coin says.

Hope sure felt under pressure, but she couldn’t show it. She had to look strong and convinced of what she was doing, or the loyalists were never going to trust her. 

“You've been underground a long time, madam Coin. This isn't like the rest of Panem. Support for the Capitol runs deep here.” Commander Lyme says.

“Then there is no sacrifice too great. We need to control the arsenal inside that fortress. Even with every district in this alliance, we are outgunned.” President Coin says.

“I won't commit my people to a ground assault just to pillage weapons.”

“Commander Paylor, your people have suffered more than just about anyone else at the hands of the Capitol.” 

“Which is why I won't condone a mass suicide.” Commander Paylor replies, but the President seems determined.

“If we don't take district 2, we won't get into the capitol.”

“Would it be enough to to disable the fortress instead of taking it?” Landon proposes. Hope turns her attention to him. 

“What do you have in mind?” Commander Paylor asks interested.

“If we can't attack straight on, then couldn't we use our hovercraft to strike around it?” He says pointing at the mountains on the map.

“We'll use the mountains. We'll hit weak spots in the peaks.” Dorian says.

“Block all exits, cut off their supplies. You make it impossible for them to launch their hovercraft. Bury them alive.” Lizzie adds. 

Hope looks at her with wide eyes at her proposition. Lizzie just looks away and ignores the scolding look Hope was still giving her. 

“We'd forfeit any chance to control the weapons.” Commander Paylor argues back.

“Yes, but we'd face a weakened capitol.” Landon points out.

“There's civilians in there. They should be given a chance to surrender. They could use the tunnels to evacuate.” Rafael says reasonably. Hope is glad that at least one of them in that room except her has a little sense.

“It's a luxury we weren't given when they firebombed 12.” Lizzie points out a little harshly.

“There’s gotta be a better way.” Hope says looking at both Landon and Lizzie. 

“I suggest we try the avalanche, but leave the train tunnel alone. Civilians can escape into the square, where our armies will be waiting for their surrender.” President Coin says.

“And if they don’t surrender?” Commander Lyme asks.

“Then we will need a compelling voice to persuade them.” 

-

At the end of the meeting Hope goes to talk to both Landon and Lizzie, walking towards them with arms crossed on her chest. 

“What is with you two and your propositions? Are you forgetting those are people?” She says angrily. 

“What’s the difference, Hope? There will be a fight anyway. With guns or bombs, someone is gonna get hurt.” Lizzie says.

“If they have to die, I can live with that. Those are people helping the enemy.” Landon says.

Hope drops her mouth open and raises her voice more. “I can’t believe you. So anyone can die. It doesn’t matter if that person is a father, a son or..or a brother.” She pauses. “You two would just let everyone die?” She asks unbelievably.

Lizzie chuckles. “You sound like Josie.” She says lowering her voice. 

“It’s war, Hope. It’s not personal. You’re the one that is on the warpath for Mikael. Landon says. 

“Oh I know what’s personal, Landon. Believe me. And for you it is.“ Hope says raising her voice.

Meanwhile the hovercraft were attacking the mountains around the District and they could hear it loud and clear. Even see it from the broken window. 

“Okay you two. That’s enough bickering for today. We have other concerns.” Lizzie steps in the middle. 

Hope dropped her arms to her sides and shook her head, then she just walks away, too angry and disappointed to keep talking. 

-

After the attack on District 2, the team went to the civilians. 

“Don’t worry Hope, there’ll be survivors.” Rafael says.

“I really hope so.”

“Now let’s focus on what you’re going to say. Finn wrote a speech for you-“

“I’m not reading any speech.” 

Rafael smiles. “That’s what I thought. But remember, you‘re talking to everybody. Not just the district, but the Capitol too.” 

“God, I feel like I’m running the elections.” She jokes.

“Don’t ever say something like that again. Please.” Rafael says with a frightened face. Hope chuckles. 

“We want them to lay down their arms. So use a little..sensitivity.”

“Why does everyone think I’m a cold hearted bitch?” She asks frowning.

Rafael only smiles and taps on her shoulder. “Make it quick, you’re exposed.”

Rafael looks ahead of him and between the chaos he notices a man coming at them, bleeding and limping, but with a gun in his hand.

“Hey! Drop the gun down! I said drop the gun!” 

Suddenly more shots fill the air and Hope runs towards the man who was now on his knees on the trails. 

“Wait! Stop it! He needs help.” 

As she is close enough to him, the man points the gun under her chin. Hope instantly freezes. She’s surprised, but not scared. She’s not scared anymore when she finds herself near death.

“Hold your fire!” Rafael shouts to everyone. Then he looks at the man holding Hope hostage again. “I said drop the gun.” 

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t shoot you.” He says with a shaky voice.

“I guess you have all the reasons to do it. We attacked your home. You attacked mine. We could kill each other here and now if you want to, but I’m not Mikael. I might be a Mikaelson but I am nothing like him. And you should open your eyes and realize that he’s not who you think he is.” 

The man’s hand is shaking while he keeps holding the gun on Hope. 

“But if you want to kill me, do it. I’ve been one of his pawns for too long, now no more. I hope you decide to stop being his slave.” 

“I’m..not his slave.” 

“Then show me you’re not. Show me you’re better than him. Why do we have to kill each other? We’re neighbors. We’re family. We are not enemies. Mikael is our common enemy.”

“The contract...”

“There is no contract between the districts and the Capitol. Not anymore. We were oppressed. We were constantly silenced. We were treated like animals.” She breaths heavily and tries to stop shaking. “Stop killing for him.” 

He drops his gun and releases his grip on Hope, who stands up and looks at the people looking at her with the guns pointed at them. 

“He corrupts everyone and everything. Turns us against each other. This stops now! Now...we turn our weapons to the Capitol. Turn your weapons to the President.”

Suddenly a man gets up from the shadows and shoots two shots at Hope, who falls on the ground unconscious, while chaos explodes around her. 

-

“A toast.” Mikael says raising his glass. “Antonius, with our best troops crushed in the mountains and the rebels marching on us as we speak, what did we celebrate?”

“The death of the girl on fire, sir.” 

“But if she was gone, the rebels would be using her as a martyr. So no, minister Antonius, I don’t think that’s what we’re celebrating at all.”

“We can hold them out sir...”

“We’ll evacuate the outer blocks to let them in instead. I want all anti-aircraft defenses ready, so we're secure from the skies. Lure them into the city, and then our gamemakers will make them pay for every inch with blood.” 

Suddenly the minister slams his head on the table as black poison runs out of his mouth.

“So what we’re celebrating, is actually the start of the new games.” He smiles devilishly, raising his glass in a toast as everyone in the room does the same.

-

Hope wakes up in her hospital bed feeling someone’s presence sitting on her bed and rummaging through her stuff.

She moves her gaze to her side and then closes her eyes again, letting out a sigh.

“Jade, now it’s not the time.” 

“That was some kind of death speech you gave. It’s a shame you had a bulletproof costume.” 

She smiles. Then she takes off Hope’s morphine to use it for herself.

“You don’t mind, do you?” 

“Help yourself.” She sighs.

“There’s some doctor that comes in everyday. He wants me to adjust to reality. Bullshit.” 

Hope looks at her and her mind goes to Josie, wondering if they might be doing the same thing with her. 

“Is it working?” She asks. 

Jade shrugs her shoulders. “I have moments, but yeah I guess.” 

“You’re safe here, you know.”

Jade laughs. “That’s what he says too. That I’m safe from the Capitol and Mikael. Do you feel safe, Hope? After what happened?” 

“Not really, no.” She admits. Then she groans in pain.

“Oh come on. What are your injuries?”

“Bruised ribs, bruised lung.”

“Have you asked for a new one?” 

“Yes. They said I could have yours.”

Jade laughs. “You’re funny Mikaelson, I’ll give you that.” 

“Do you blame me? For what happened to you?” Hope asks her sincerely.

“At first I did. But it’s not like you knew that was gonna happen, right?” 

“Right.” 

Jade looks at her silently, almost studying her. “But you feel responsible. So you wanted to hear from me if I blamed you. Like Josie does.” 

Hope looks down at her hands to avoid Jade’s inquisitive gaze. 

“Hope, what they did to Josie is much worse than what they did to me. If she had just a small window of clarity she wouldn’t think of you as her enemy.” 

Hope meets her gaze and frowns.

“I really thought you hated me.”

“Oh don’t mistake this-“ She points at them both. “talk as the start of a friendship. I still can’t stand you.“ 

“You could easily take my place. You’re a bitch, just like me.” 

“Oh shut up.” 

Hope smiles weakly. Meanwhile Jade picks up a note on Hope’s nightstand but the red head girl grabs it before she can open it.

“That’s not for you.” 

“Ooh, did Josie Saltzman write you a love note?” She says with a wide smile. 

But Hope wasn’t really amused by it. Instead she felt pretty sad about it and Jade noticed.

“She tried to remember you as long as she could, you know.” 

Hope looked back at her. Jade went on. 

“When we realized what they were doing to us, Josie started telling me about you two. The things you did for her. How she felt about you. Our cells were close and every night I told her about you. So that whenever they used the poison on her and tried to change her memories..she would remember what was real.” 

Hope kept listening in silence, her eyes wet with tears but still far from breaking down. 

“But at some point she stopped believing in what I said.” 

Jade noticed Hope lowering her head to maybe hide the fact that she was hurting. 

“Hope..she will get better.”

“You don’t know that.” She sniffles. 

“I know that she’s as stubborn as you. And she could never live the rest of her life believing she doesn’t love you, even if it was the poison clouding her judgment.” 

Jade gave a sincere and reassuring smile at her and then walked out of the room, leaving Hope alone with her thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was more of an introduction to part four 👀 next chapters will be everything you’ve been waiting for.


	24. Chapter 24

“She’s strapped down. She can’t hurt you.” Damon says.

“No Damon, it’s not that. I..I can’t do this. I can’t face her.” Hope says while watching Josie from the window glass. 

Damon looks at her with a frown.

“But it doesn’t really matter if you can’t, does it? It’s for her, Hope. Try.”

He was right. She had to try. It’s not like she hasn’t tried two times before, but she still needed to. Because she could never stop trying, not even if it hurt her.

She took a deep breath and opened the door, walking into Josie’s room. 

The brunette instantly raised her head from the pillow at the sight of Hope. 

“I thought I had made it clear by now. You stay away from me.” Josie said looking at her with anger.

“That’s why I’m not stepping any further.” 

“You’re supposed to be dead.” 

“Believe me, I wanted it just as much as you do.” Hope says glancing around the room, but not at her.

“While I was almost dying, I remembered the first games. How I was ready to die with you rather than let you kill yourself.” She pauses. “I wish I had killed you myself back then when you told me to.”

Hope swallows hard and looks down at her feet trying to keep it together. Then she looks back at her.

“They say you loved me.” Josie says.

_I love you, actually. Present tense._

She shakes the thought away. She clears her throat.

“Did they say _you_ loved me?” Hope asks.

“They say that’s why Mikael tortured me. He wanted to hurt me and you both.”

“I guess he did.” She says in a broken voice.

“All I know is that I would’ve saved myself a lot of suffering if you were dead.”

Hope bit her inner cheek and nodded lightly, then she turned around and walked away without giving one last look. 

She tried. She wanted to do this despite knowing how Josie saw her now, but it was too much to bear for her. 

She went from hating her, to being her ally. She went from being blind about her feelings, to realizing she loved her. She never stopped trying to protect her. She never stopped trying to save her. 

And after how painful it was to think that she’d lost her after the games, now she thought that she had lost her for real. 

That person was not Josie. Her Josie.  
She couldn’t protect her no matter how much she wanted to. She couldn’t save her. She couldn’t tell her she loved her. 

And did she regret never speaking those words out loud when she could’ve.

-

Hope stormed into the conference room where President Coin was.

“I need to go to the Capitol.” Hope simply stated.

“No. You’ve done enough for now. The districts are united. You should rest. And heal.”

“I can’t think about my healing process when Josie is still fighting with her own mind, can I?” She bursts out.

“So what? Hm? What are you going to do? You think going to the Capitol will make it better?”

“I want to be with the troops.”

“No, Hope. You want revenge. And you cannot be in the front line if you’re blinded by revenge and risking the operation.” 

Hope wanted to scream. She didn’t care of being careful anymore. They had turned the only good thing that’s ever happened to her into someone who despised her. She wasn’t thinking rationally. When it’s about Josie, her instinct of protection overcomes everything else. 

But as much as she wanted to stop being other’s people puppet, she still had to play along with Dahlia’s wishes. Just until she could have the chance of doing something. 

“You’re very valuable to us, Hope. When we win this, we’ll fly you in for the surrender. For now, we need you here.” 

“Fine. I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”

She lied.

-

“From this day forth, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer. I promise to love and Cherish you each day.”

“I, Finnick Odair, take you, Annie Cresta, as my wife from this day forth. Together or apart, we will always be united.” 

“You may kiss the bride.” The priest said with a wide smile.

Finnick and Annie’s wedding was the only moment of joy the District had known for a while. Their union was something that gave hope. And after all that pain, Finnick and Annie deserved to be happy. 

Hope had known Finnick for a while now and despite their initial differences, she knew he deserved every good thing life could give him. 

But seeing them together was also painful to watch for Hope. She couldn’t help but feel kind of jealous that she couldn’t have what they had. 

She doesn’t know when her feelings for Josie escalated this quickly to make her wish they both realized sooner that they loved each other, so that they would have the memory of the wedding they were supposed to have. 

But then again, that memory would be only Hope’s to carry now. 

She watched as Finnick and Annie danced happily in the middle of the garden, while the other guests did the same all around them. 

“You went to see her?” Jade asked approaching Hope. 

She doesn’t answer. She was trying not to think about their latest encounter. 

“Did you say hi from me? I still hear her screams in my head sometimes. She’s always on my mind.” 

Hope stiffens at the thought of Josie’s screaming in pain and keeps her gaze on the people at the centre of the room. 

“I’m going to kill him.” She suddenly says, getting Jade’s attention. “Nothing good is safe until Mikael lives. He already ruined my good thing. I won’t let him ruin others too.” She said with her gaze on Finnick and Annie.

“I’m listening.” Jade said smiling devilishly.

“I’m tired of propos and cameras. Games. I just want to see him dead.” 

“I may know a way for you to get out of here.” Jade said lowering her voice. “The medics are shipping supplies for the front line from hangar two around midnight tonight.” 

They share a look. 

“Just do it once and for all, Hope. Take your revenge. And mine too.” 

Hope nodded as to assure her that she would do that. She wanted nothing more at the moment. 

Suddenly someone took her hand and realized it was Nik that was grabbing her to dance together. Despite her protests, he managed to drag her with him. 

Hope remembered the other reason she needed to do this. Her family. 

Nik, Freya and Keelin. 

They were all she had left. And she didn’t trust Mikael to let them live in peace and not trying everything to cause her even more pain.

Because he knew that to destroy Hope he had to do more than just kill her. He had to take everything she loved and cared about from her. But no more. 

“You’re a terrible dancer.” Nik said making her come out of her thoughts.

“You’re a terrible dancer. You keep stepping on my feet.” She says mocking him. 

“This is my first dance, I’m excused. You had time to practice.” 

Hope smiled sadly and then she found herself surrounded into an embrace. Nik was hugging her out of nowhere and he was giving her the tightest of hugs. She smiled at the familiar feeling of affection. 

“I love you Hope.” 

“I love you too kiddo.” 

“Can I ask you something?” He says after breaking the hug and meeting her eyes. She nods.

“Don’t give up on Josie. I know you’re hurt right now, but don’t resent her for saying those things.” 

“I wasn’t going to give up.” 

She wasn’t going to stop protecting her. Ever. But saying that she wasn’t feeling bitter about Josie’s words would be a lie. For all she knows, there was nothing left of Josie and she could be holding on just the good memories she had of them. 

When it was time, Hope went to the aircraft that was supposed to leave for the front, so she moves undercover and runs fast to get in just before the platform closes. 

She hides behind huge boxes and sits on the floor, breathing deeply to calm the anxiety she was feeling. 

After about thirty minutes, the aircraft landed and the platform opened. She noticed the rebels walking back and forwards and she thinks that maybe, just maybe, she could walk among them without getting noticed.

She puts on her hood and walks out trying not to get people to notice. She only walks a hundred meters before someone suddenly takes off her hood making her jump around in surprise.

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice you sneaking in here? No one is as short as you, dumbass.” Lizzie says with her arms crossed on her chest, smirking at Hope.

“Lizzie I-“

“Oh save it. I figured you would do something stupid.” 

Hope noticed that everyone around them had stopped doing their things and were now staring at her. 

Then Rafael walks by and stops to meet her gaze. “I thought you were at the hospital.”

“Jade took my morphine.” 

Both Rafael and Lizzie chuckled and then gestured her to follow them inside the tent where Landon was.

“I just heard about you running off from Finn. The President was not so pleased.” Landon says.

“The President can kiss my-“

“Okay. Okay. I don’t think you should have the right to express your thoughts like this anymore.” Rafael says chuckling. Hope smiles.

“Why? Because you need me alive?” 

“That and other things.” Lizzie says. 

They smile to each other and then walk back outside to hear Commander Paylor’s speech.

“For the first time in our lifetimes, we're standing together with 13 districts. From what I see here, we've already made history. But we're facing an enemy that will not change and will never surrender.  
President Mikaelson has pulled back peacekeepers to fortify the center of the city. He's evacuating residents from the outer blocks. The civilians are not the target, okay?” She pauses. “To slow our advance, President is building a minefield of traps and lethal devices called "pods."  
The sadistic inventions of gamemakers meant to make sport of our deaths.” 

“Of course they are.” Hope comments out loud in disgust.

“If we die, let it be for a cause and not a spectacle. If we succeed, let it be for all of Panem, and let it be forever.” 

Later that they everyone was getting ready to march for the Capitol the next day. Both Lizzie and Hope were taking a look at the guns. But Hope wasn’t going for it. She still preferred using the bow.

“So what’s your plan Mikaelson, are you gonna run off on your own as soon as we’re into the Capitol?” Lizzie asks while picking up the gun and the bullets.

“What makes you think that?” 

“Well, you’re reckless. And you’re blinded by revenge. I haven’t been your friend for long but it’s pretty easy to read you.”

Hope smirks. “Oh so we are friends.” 

“Until you run off leaving everyone behind? Sure.” 

Hope shakes her head. “I would never leave you behind, Lizzie.” She says softly. 

Lizzie stares at her for a moment and tries to hide the smug smile. 

“So now you’ll be trying to protect me?” 

“I think you can protect yourself just fine.” She says brushing it off.

Lizzie rolls her eyes. “You’re such a bitch.” 

Hope chuckles and then they’re interrupted by Rafael and the team walking under the tent. 

“Saltzman, Mikaelson, come meet your unit.” Rafael says.

“I'm lieutenant Lockwood and I wanna introduce you to your squad.“ He says. “This is second lieutenant Gilbert, best sharpshooter in Panem. I believe you already met the rest of the team.”

There were Camille, Josh, Aiden and Davina lined up next to him. Hope nodded and then her attention was caught by some familiar blond curls.

“Finnick?” 

“Hey Mikaelson.” He smiles while Hope walks towards him.

“You’re coming with us?” 

“I am.” 

She embraces him genuinely happy to see him there, but then she quickly remembers what he was getting into.

“Why aren’t you on your honeymoon?”

“I can have one after my return.” 

“Always so optimistic.” 

“Well, one of us has to be.” He smiles amused, causing Hope to smile back.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“You two. Come here.” Rafael calls them back.

“Squad 451, you’re my unit. But we are a non-combat unit. So we'll be following days behind the front-line troops. You're to be the onscreen faces of the invasion.  
"The star squad." It's been decided that you're most effective when seen by the masses.”

“So we’re not gonna fight?” Hope asks frowning.

“You'll do whatever you're ordered to do, soldier. It's not your job to ask questions.” Rafael answers back in a serious tone.

Hope gives him a threatening look for using that tone only because of the lieutenant’s presence. She decides she would deal with him later. He must get something from her look since he quickly glances away and clears his throat.

“Our instructions are to shoot propaganda footage on the battle-scarred streets of the capitol. We have to intimidate them and inspire surrenders.” He pauses. “I guarantee you, the city is not safe. It will be full of pods and peacekeepers coming at us at all times. In the event of capture, you'll be given a nightlock pill. A poison that acts immediately.” 

“I remind you the pods are on every block. But we were given a holo. A database that contains a detailed map of the capitol and shows every known pod.” Lieutenant Lockwood says. “We cannot move without this device. But we’re never sure about what we can find. There might also be new pods that the holo won’t know about.” 

“And because we don't want the gamemakers to know we have this intel, it has a self-destruct on it. You flip this switch, say "nightlock" three times, and it blows itself and anything within a 10-foot radius.” Lieutenant Gilbert adds.

“Remember the pods are meant to kill you. So we have to be smart about it. Move carefully and move together.” Rafael finishes.

Finnick walks closer to Hope and whispers to her ear. “Looks like we’re gonna make a third round Mikaelson. Welcome to the 76th Hunger Games.” 

-

The unit landed with the aircraft in one of the evacuated blocks of the Capitol.  
Buildings were already falling apart and all around it was messy and destroyed, so Hope figured the rebels had already been to that part of the city.

“Keep you eyes open.” Rafael says.

“Shoot through those two buildings.” Camille says to Hope while Josh is pointing the camera. 

“Davina, you stay on her right.” Camille says.

Hope takes out her arrow and points it between the two buildings, getting ready to shoot. 

“When you’re ready, Hope.”

When she knocks the arrow two pods go off between the buildings and a huge fire burns in front of them for a few seconds until it burns out. 

“All clear now.” Rafael says.

They walk under an abandoned open building and set up their unit station. Their job was not to fight so they could stay out of the danger for a while. 

“I don’t think we can walk across this minefield. Even with that holo.” Lizzie says sitting next to Hope and opening the bottle to drink.

“Then Finnick says I’m the pessimistic one.” She points out, gaining an annoyed look from Lizzie. 

Suddenly there’s the sound of a truck coming their way and they notice Rafael and Finnick walk outside.

“451 to base.” Rafael says on speaker.

“We've got a truck coming in from the south. Over.”

“Copy that. Over.” He puts down the radio.

Hope and Lizzie followed them outside to look at the two soldiers opening the back of the truck, only to see someone jumping down and face them.

Everyone were shocked at the sight of Josie dressed like one of the team.

Without thinking about it Hope took out her arrow and pointed it at her. Josie raised her hands to show she meant no harm, while Lizzie grabbed Hope’s arm and put down the bow.

“What the hell are you doing?!” She says growing mad.

Hope instantly drops the bow and looks at Josie and then at Lizzie with a regretful look. 

“I..I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I did that.” 

Lizzie kept her eyes on her, clearly disappointed by Hope’s reaction. 

Not even Hope expected to react that way. She didn’t mean to hurt Josie. She would never do that. But somehow she only saw a threat for a moment.

She could pretend she was being strong, but the truth was that Josie’s hate was hurting her more than she thought it would. 

Her mind was seeing her as a hybrid. But she didn’t want to. She hated herself for even thinking like that, even if for a mere second. 

“Why is she here?” Finnick asks.

Rafael approaches her with cuffs. “Josie, this is only for precaution. Okay?” 

She only nods keeping her head down. Then they walk inside the building, while Hope stays behind, still trying to get herself together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think 👀


	25. Chapter 25

“They want us to add her to the propo, to show that she’s on our side now.” Rafael says while everyone is reunited inside the building.

Hope doesn’t really know what to say or think. She just listens. 

“She’s not in control of herself.” Landon says.

“I know. That’s why we will schedule an around-the-clock watch on her.” Rafael says while looking at Hope.

“Gilbert will watch her first, then Kirby.” Lieutenant Lockwood says. 

Landon is about to say something but he’s cut out by Hope.

“Give me a watch.” 

Both Landon and Lizzie look at her in disbelief. Lieutenant Lockwood gives her a doubtful look.

“And if you had to, would you shoot her?” 

Hope swallowed hard and gritted her teeth together. She had to find the strength to say it.

“Yes. I wouldn’t be shooting Josie. She’s just a mutt created by the Capitol.” 

“Hope!” Lizzie yells at her upset.

“Then it’s set.” 

Hope meets Lizzie’s angry look but as soon as she sees Hope’s eyes wet with tears her face softens. Hope clears her throat and gets up to hide the fact that she lied and this was hurting her more than the fact that she couldn’t see Josie at all at first.

Now she was there. And Hope didn’t know what she remembered as real and what not. Josie could try anything on her and Hope would even let her finish it next time she does. 

She follows Rafael outside while he checks the perimeter around them.

“Why did Coin do this? She knows Josie is not stable. That she could kill me.” 

“All I know Hope..is that she wanted to save Josie from the arena. Not you.”

Hope frowns. “Then why...”

“Because Finn and Damon took care of that part of the plan. They thought you were the one who could end Mikael, and you are. But you’re not easy to deal with. She can’t control you. You do your way, you get angry and act recklessly and you don’t listen.” 

“So what? She hopes Josie kills me now?!” 

“She sees you as her competition. Why do you think I told you not to joke about running for president?” 

Hope’s face drops in realization. “She wants to become the next President.” 

“They promised free elections. Who do you think people will want as their leader?” He asks.

“Surely not another Mikaelson, if they’re smart.”

Rafael chuckles. “Hope, you’re not Mikael. Everyone saw that. That’s why you’re dangerous for her.” 

Hope sighs and looks away, shaking her head nervously. Rafael places a hand on her shoulder to reassure her.

“You won’t die Hope. Not because of Josie, and certainly not on my watch.” 

“Oh please, I’m not scared of dying.” She says shaking her head and sighing heavily.

Raf gives her a sad look. “You’re scared for her.” 

She looks back at him and frowns. “Of course I am! I’m always gonna be scared for her. She’s..” She says while sniffling and bringing a hand on her forehead. “She’s still the best thing I have. And I don’t know how the thought of hurting her could even cross my mind when I saw her back there. I hate myself for even thinking that. The truth is I’m not scared of her. It’s just too painful to be around her like this.” 

She didn’t know she had started rambling so much until she stopped talking and noticed Rafael looking at her as if he pitied her and she was crying again. 

“I’m sorry.” She wipes off her tears and quickly composes herself. 

“It’s okay Hope. Look, I’m here for you. Okay? If it becomes too much, I’m here.” He places a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. She smiles weakly.

“Thank you.” 

They share one last look before Hope goes back inside, and the sun quickly starts going down.

Hope was sitting with her back against the wall. She had her eyes fixed outside. It was dark and quiet, but it was like she could picture the danger coming from the shadows. 

To distract herself from the images in her head she turned her eyes to Josie, who was sleeping on the floor right in front of her. 

For a moment, she almost had the impulse to bring her fingers to her cheek. But then she remembered that she couldn’t. She closed her hand in a fist and looked away again. 

After not long, she hears Josie waking up. The brunette looked at her and then sat down with her back against the pillar. 

She looked still tired. Hope wondered why she didn’t get back to sleep. 

“Do you want to kill me?” Josie suddenly asks with a small and hoarse voice. 

Hope turned her gaze to meet sad brown eyes staring at her. 

“Of course not.” Hope said as if it was the most obvious answer. 

“Why not? I tried to kill you.” 

“You were...”

“Not myself?” Josie finished for her. Then she continued. “I’m still not myself. I have moments of clarity and..moments where i just snap.” She says almost feeling ashamed.

“Are you now?” Hope asked her. Josie met her eyes again. “Yourself, I mean.” Hope finishes.

Josie nods and abandons her head against the pillar, tears forming in her eyes. 

“I’m so sorry Hope.” She says with a small and broken voice. 

Hope feels her heart missing a beat. 

That was definitely Josie. 

She looks away and bites her lip to keep herself from crying and then meets Josie’s eyes again.

“I just don’t know what’s real and what’s not anymore.” Josie says while crying silently.

“Ask me then.” Hope says. “Ask me what’s real and not.”

“You love the colors of fall. Is that real?” 

Hope smiles weakly. “Real.”

They only keep staring at each other before Hope speaks again.

“Your favorite color...is the color of my eyes. You can sing beautifully. You used to sing me to sleep whenever I had a nightmare.” She smiles. “You also like gardening. You have the entire porch of your house filled with plants and flowers.” She pauses. “You always waited for me to come back home from my hunting in the woods. You watched me from your kitchen window. You were always there for me. I didn’t even have to ask. You just...were.”

Josie kept staring at her with tears running down her cheeks. 

Hope, on the other side, was still trying not to cry. But seeing Josie like that wasn’t helping. 

“I can’t do this.” She gets up and moves on the other side of the room, where she could be out of Josie’s view.

“Hope..” Lizzie calls at her, but Hope keeps moving and goes to sit next to Landon.

He glances at her and then closes his eyes again. “Get some rest Hope.” He whispers.

She didn’t. 

-

The next day they were directed five blocks north from their current position. Rafael called everyone’s attention before heading out with a gun in his hands.

“Everyone look.” He shows them the mag of the gun. “Mag’s empty. The gun is just for the propo.” He hands the gun to Josie who only nods in understanding.

“Let’s go.” Rafael says.

Everyone follows behind him, while he leads them through the streets of the Capitol with the holo in his hands.

“To the citizens of the Capitol, our war is not with you...” Finnick reads the note.

“Our war is not with you..” Josie repeats.

“You will be a vital part of this democracy...”

“You will be a vital part of this democracy that follows our victory.” Josie says.

“Yeah, you got it.” He smiles.

Meanwhile they turn around a corner and arrive to a large round square surrounded by buildings. 

“Rafael? You can stop here.” Camille says. “This is a good spot. There through the courtyard.” 

“Okay let me check it first.” 

They walk down the stairs to face another alley where the holo adverted the presence of two pods. They hide behind the walls while Rafael picks a rock and throws it in between the high walls.

Suddenly from the walls appear two guns that start firing everywhere for at least thirty seconds. When everything goes quiet, Rafael checks the alley and then calls at them.

“All clear. Landon. Lockwood. With me.” 

They go ahead before the others can, while they wait with their backs on the walls. 

Hope’s gaze catches Josie from the other side of the wall down on her knees and holding her head in her hands, clearly in mental pain.

Hope knew she was losing control. And she could do nothing about it. Lizzie was next to her and trying to calm her down, but it seemed useless.

While Hope had her attention on them, suddenly a mine went off and there was an explosion just at the other end of the alley. Hope jumped scared and then looked at Landon and Rafael’s direction.

Seeing Rafael on the ground, Hope runs towards him without thinking. 

“Hope! Don’t go!” Davina screams, but she doesn’t listen.

She runs to Rafael and sees the pool of blood forming around his legs. 

“Hope! Hope..take the holo. Give me the holo.” 

Hope grabs the holo on the ground and gives it to him.

“Unfit for command. Transfer primary security clearance...Say your name.”

“Hope Mikaelson.” She says not knowing what was happening. She just felt scared for him.

“The holo responds only to you now. Hope..don’t trust them. Don’t trust anyone.” He says forcing himself to talk through his last breaths.

“No..Rafael, I need you. I can’t..” 

“Mikaelson.” He says harshly while he holds her hand firmly to get her attention.  
“You can everything. Do what you came to do. Stay...alive.” 

He lets out one last breath and then he abandons his head on the ground, his breathing stopped. Hope looked down her hands covered in blood and started gasping heavily. Suddenly Davina grabs her by her arms to make her stand.

“Hope..come on. We can’t stay here. We have to go.” 

Suddenly Gilbert steps on a stone that goes down and then levels to the ground again. Then the only two exits of the round square starts closing up behind her backs and in front of them. 

They’re trapped inside. And then a sea of oil falls from above the walls and heads towards them. 

“Go! Go!”

“Move!”

Davina drags Hope with her while Lizzie grabs Josie who was still in shock after her episode. 

“Josie run!” 

“Go higher! Keep moving!” 

All of them keep running up the stairs while the oil keeps filling the place like it was a pool being filled with water. 

Suddenly Hope finds herself put down while Josie is on top of her trying to suffocate her. 

“Josie!” Lizzie screamed while she pulled her off of Hope, while Finnick helped Hope getting up. 

But Josie turns around again and tries to stab Hope with a knife she wasn’t even supposed to have. Luckily Hope grabs her wrist in time to stop her.

Hope’s confused gaze meets Josie’s angry one. “Jo, please.” Hope says softly.

Suddenly Josie’s anger seems to disappear while she keeps staring at Hope in confusion. Then Hope pushes her ahead to reach the inside of the building. 

“Come on you two!” Finnick screams.

They go up the stairs and stop on the second floor, hoping that the level of oil would slow down. Luckily it did. 

Everyone took a deep breath and tried to calm down for a moment. 

“Where’s Gilbert?” Landon asks.

“He didn’t make it.” Lockwood says emotionless. 

“Gamemakers are giving their best this year.” Finnick says.

“If pacekeepers didn’t know where we were, they do now. We have to move.” Lockwood says. 

Then he uses the radio to call the base.

“451 to base. Over.” No response. He tries again. “451 to base. Over.” He says louder.

“There’s no signal here.” Camille says. 

“We can still go back to the base. Mikaelson, the holo.” Lockwood commands.

“I..I can’t give it to you.”

“What do you mean you can’t?” He says growing impatient.

“He transferred security clearance to her.” Landon says. “I saw him do it.”

“Why would he do that?” He asks confused.

“Does it matter? There are peacekeepers on their way to kill us. We should go. Now.” Davina says. 

“Okay Mikaelson. If he trusted you, I trust you. The holo is yours.” Lockwood says.

Landon steps with one foot on the stair now painted black with the dry oil.

“We shouldn’t leave footprints.”

“Okay. Everybody go now.” Lockwood walks ahead followed by the rest.

They walk through the square again and then Lockwood uses the gun to break a door of glass and enter another building in front of the previous one. 

They enter some sort of night club that was still intact. They close the curtains and sit down in silence.

Hope turns to look at Lizzie next to her, then at Josie who was on the other side of the room, head in her hands.

“She has a knife.” Hope whispers.

Lizzie frowns. “What?! How did she get a knife?” She whispers too.

“I don’t know.” 

“I’ll try to get it from her.” 

“No. She needs something to defend herself.” 

Lizzie looks at her in confusion. “She was about to kill you.” 

“It doesn’t matter.” 

“I swear to god, I can’t stand you.” Lizzie says rolling her eyes.

“Excuse me?” 

“You would rather let her kill you than make it safe for the both of you.”

“It’s not safe for her if she’s unarmed, Lizzie.”

“It’s not safe for you if she is!”

“Are you seriously going to fight me about this?!”

“Hey! You two. Stop bickering.” Finnick says. Lizzie gives him an annoyed look but then stays silent.

“They’re here.” Landon says. 

Suddenly they hear gunshots against the windows of the other building. After that silence. Then a bomb goes off and the building falls down. 

When the peacekeepers are gone, the 3D screens in the room light up and show the faces of each of them, just like in the games. 

Now everyone believed they were dead. 

“Oh well, that’s funny.” Josh says.

“So now we’re dead. We can’t shoot propos. What’s next?” Finnick asks.

“You have to kill me.” Josie says capturing everyone’s attention.

“Jo, no.” Lizzie says emphasizing the no.

“I'm a mutt. And it's only a matter of time before I snap again.“ She says in a sad voice. “Give me a nightlock pill so I can die when I need to.” 

“Absolutely not.” Hope bursts out to Josie’s surprise.

“If it gets to that point, I’ll kill you myself.” Landon says. 

Hope turns around to face him and presses her arm on his throat, while he bumps his back against the wall. 

Landon meets Hope’s angry look and tries to talk despite the lack of air.

“Really Hope? You‘re still defending her?” 

“If you weren’t a total asshole constantly saying things that piss me off I wouldn’t have to do this.” She says with anger. 

“Hope, let him go.” Finnick says. 

“Hope.” Lizzie says too. 

At that point Hope releases him and walks away, sitting on the other side of the room far from the others.

“So Hope Mikaelson, the girl on fire, a poor unstable girl with nothing but a small talent with a bow and arrow is dead. Not a thinker, not a leader. Certainly not my blood. Simply a face plucked from the masses.” Mikael says in front of the camera live broadcasting. 

“She was valuable to your rebellion because you have no vision, no true leader among you.” 

Suddenly his live is interrupted by another one taking his place.

“Good evening. For those of you who don't know me, please, allow me to introduce myself. I am president Dahlia Coin, leader of the rebellion. I have interrupted a broadcast from your president in which he attempted to defame a brave young woman.” 

Mikael laughs amused at her words.

“I had the privilege of knowing a strong girl who survived the hunger games and the quarter quell and rose up and turned a nation of slaves into an army! Dead or alive, Hope Mikaelson will remain the face of this revolution.” She says getting emotional. 

Meanwhile Hope and the unit were also watching the live on the screens. 

“I didn’t think she cared so much about me.” Hope says ironically. Finnick chuckles next to her. 

“And in her memory, we will all find the strength to rid panem of its oppressors. Thank you. And be safe.” Coin finishes her speech and the screen turns off.

Hope takes out the holo and opens the 3D map of the Capitol.

“These buildings. Do these look over Mikael’s gardens?” Hope asks.

“I...” Lockwood hesitates.

“They do.” Davina answers sure.

“If he goes outside at all, I could get a clear shot.” 

“Mikaelson, you’re going way out our your lead. Just look at the pods. One every 10 steps. It’s a minefield!” Lockwood grows impatient.

“So we can't go anywhere in the streets.” Lizzie says.

“We certainly can’t fly.” Josh says. 

“But we can go down.” Aiden says feeling enlightened.

“The tunnels.” Josh smiles. 

Moments after they were climbing down a stair to get into the tunnels. 

“I worked here for five years before Camille came to my rescue.” Aiden says smiling at Camille. 

They walked behind him until they arrive on the main way, where the underground trains pass. One passes by just as they are crossing the other tunnel.

They wait for the train to disappear and then take the other way. 

-

“President? President.” Mikael’s secretary calls him while he’s sleeping on the couch of his office. 

Mikael opens his eyes. 

“What, woman?”

The woman had noticed a line of blood running down his nose. 

“Should I call the doctor sir?”

“I don’t need a doctor. Are you here to tell me something relevant?” He says impatiently.

“They survived, sir.”

“What?! Let me see!”

The projector shows the recording of the tunnels. There’s the entire team entering a door and he can see Hope clearly, alive and well.

“Oh. So the arena has moved underground.” Mikael says smiling.

“What do you want us to do sir?”

“I want you to unleash hell over there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m so sad about raf 🥺 
> 
> also, hizzie keeps stealing my heart. 
> 
> also also...you’ll definitely love next chapter. like really...you’ll love it.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is long. and one of my favorites.

They walk under the tunnels for hours, going from dark and narrow tunnels to tunnels full of water where they have to swim through. 

As they turn around a corner there are some metal stairs that bring them to another level of the tunnels. 

“We can stop here and rest for a while. Okay? I’ll take the first watch.” Lockwood says. 

Lizzie sits next to Josie who seemed tired and totally off. 

“Jo? Get some rest.”

“Did I tell you I met grandma in the games?” She says in a small voice, her eyes fixed on the stairs.

“Yeah, I know. I saw her with you.” Lizzie whispers in a sad voice.

“I wish I could have saved her.” 

Lizzie closes her eyes to push back the tears forming in her eyes. She knows she didn’t know the woman, but she was still the last thing they had of family. And now they were left alone. 

She never cries, she doesn’t allow herself to lose control. Not after years spent losing it. 

Since the loss of her parents, since repeatedly almost losing Josie, she tried to put herself together. She needed to get better. And she believed now she was a better person. 

A better person because the loss made her stronger. A better person because of Hope, who inspired her since the moment they met. 

Hope is sitting next to Lizzie and overhears the conversation between the two, and as she notices Lizzie’s distress, she takes her hand and squeezes it in hers to give her some comfort. 

Lizzie doesn’t look at her, but squeezes Hope’s hand back as an answer. As thank you. 

After two hours on watch, Commander Lockwood goes to Hope and taps on her shoulder to wake her up. She instantly opens her eyes.

“Mikaelson? Your turn.” 

Hope nods and gets up to sit next to the stairs, which was the only way in they had to keep an eye on. 

She was sitting in front of Josie again, who had her head rested on Lizzie’s shoulder. 

“You landed me your coat on a rainy day when we were fourteen. Real or not real?” Josie asks meeting Hope’s blue and tired eyes.

“Real.” 

“Why?”

“You were freezing.” She smiles remembering the moment. “And I just..I don’t know. I guess I was already trying to look after you back then.”

She avoided Josie’s gaze looking down at her hands. Then Josie broke the silence that had fallen between them.

“I wish I could remember more but..everything is so confused. But I think I know when something is real because the images in my head are...clearer. The others are more blurred.”

“It’s okay. Don’t pressure yourself.” Hope says softly.

Josie keeps her gaze fixed into Hope’s. She felt almost like Josie was trying to get into her head. Like just staring into her eyes could make her see deep into her soul. Her heart. 

Suddenly the oxygen down there wasn’t enough anymore.

“You’re still trying to protect me. Why?”

“That’s what we always do. We keep each other alive.” 

“I don’t think I deserve your protection anymore.” She says looking away now.

“I don’t think I will ever stop, despite of what you think you deserve.” Hope says. 

They stare at each other for a moment that seemed endless. 

“Hope? Did you hear that?” Finnick asks. 

“Hear what?” She asks confused.

Everyone stay silent to focus their hearing. The noises are clearer now. Like animal verses.

“They’re mutts.” Josh says scared.

“We have to move. Now.” Lockwood says.

“Aiden, what’s the fastest way out?” Landon asks him.

“Follow me.” 

They walk quickly away from there while the noises starts to feel more and more closer. 

While everyone runs ahead, both Landon and Hope stay behind to shoot explosive arrows at the mutts.

“Go! Go!”

“Faster!” 

Suddenly a couple of mutts are in front of them, but Landon shoots them as they’re set on fire again.

“Hope go ahead! Don’t stay here!”

“I’m not leaving you!” 

She shoots again. 

“Keep moving!”

They keep running into the tunnels, turning around corners and back into new dark ones. 

As they arrive into a larger part of the tunnels with stairs and pool of water, with nowhere to go but up. 

But they were surrounded now and they had to kill the mutts who were constantly jumping on them, not allowing them to run away. 

“Hope! Shoot at the other entrance!” Landon shouts.

Both of them kept shooting arrows at the two way in for the mutts, but others still managed to survive and got in attacking the others. 

Lizzie, Finnick, Camille and Davina where fighting and killing them one after the others. Meanwhile Josh and Aiden were already up the stairs calling at them to go up. But it was impossible.

Suddenly three of them were on Lockwood and as he tried to shoot at them his arms were completely blocked and he kept firing in the air.

Then the mutts dragged him down into the water. 

“Lockwood!” Landon screams. 

But he was gone.

Hope moves around and point towards Camille and Davina, killing the two mutts for them.

“Go! We’ll hold them up! You go!” Hope screams.

As Camille and Davina climb the stairs, Hope and Finnick cover for them. 

“Come! Come now!” Camille yells looking down at them.

“Lizzie! Go!” Finnick says.

“Where’s Josie?!” Lizzie says panicking while she shoots at another mutts.

Hope’s panicked gaze suddenly looks around to catch a glimpse of Josie.

“Josie..” She whispers to herself gasping.

Suddenly she sees her laying on the ground with a mutts on top of her. She had still her hands cuffed and she could only hold him back with the chain on his neck.

“Josie! Use the knife!” Hope screams.

“I lost it!” 

Hope jumps down into the water to get to the other side and then jumps on the mutt, taking him down into the water with her. 

Meanwhile Josie quickly sits up and looks at the water where Hope is fighting the mutts. Then she kills him sticking a normal arrow in his head. 

As she tries to come out of the water and Josie offers her hand she is pulled back down. 

Josie widens her eyes panicking. “Hope! Hope!” She screams.

In that moment, she remembered the time she had almost lost Hope into the water during the games. How desperate she felt. The same desperation she was feeling now. 

“Hope!” 

“Josie get out of here!” Lizzie says. 

Suddenly Finnick grabs her to drag her away and take her to the stairs, but she tries to fight him back.

“No! No! Hope is in there. We have to save Hope!” 

“I’ll get her! You go!”

“No! I have to-“

“Josie just go!” Finnick insists throwing her in Lizzie’s arms, who pushes her ahead to climb the stairs.

Meanwhile Landon had gone to Hope’s rescue and found her just in time before another mutt could jump on her. 

Finnick got another one with his trident before he could jump on Hope again.

Landon helped her get out of the water while she kept coughing.

“Hope, go. Me and Finnick will be right behind you.”

“No. Landon-“

“Just go. Please. Let me do something that doesn’t make me an asshole for once.” He says almost pleading her. 

She walks away and goes up the stairs while Finnick and Landon keep fighting the mutts, who were still coming and growing in number. 

“Guys! We have to go!” Davina yells.

“They’re just gonna keep coming! Come up! We’ll cover for you!” Josh says.

Hope takes out her bow and arrows and points down at the mutts to allow Landon and Finnick to climb the stairs.

“Finnick! Come on!”

As Finnick starts climbing, Landon is still holding them up while Hope is shooting at them from the top of the stairs. 

“Landon come on!” 

He killed two more until he was out of arrows and started punching them and pushing them away. 

Then he started climbing the stairs and Hope offers him her hand to pull him up quicker, but as he leans his hand to reach her he’s pulled back down by two mutts.

He bumps his head on the stairs and falls into the water, while the four mutts throw themselves on him.

“No!” Hope screams in shock. 

Finnick watches the scene horrified but then shakes Hope to make her move. 

“Hope we have to go.” She doesn’t move. “Hope! Now!” He raises his voice and grabs her forcefully. 

“Nightclock. Nightclock. Nightclock.” She says three times and drops the holo into the water. 

There was danger in every corner now. There was no point anymore. They had to find some place to hide and the underground wasn’t an option anymore. 

They keep running and they’re back at the first tunnels. As they cross the corner Josie falls down on her knees pounding and hitting herself in the head.

“I can’t...I’m like them. I’m like them..” She cries.

Suddenly the others stop and turn around to look at her.

“Josie!” Lizzie calls her. 

Meanwhile Hope goes back and kneels down in front of her.

“Josie? We have to go. Please.” She says urging her.

“I can’t. I’m a monster. I’m like them. Please leave me here. Leave me.” She keeps pleading.

Hope shakes her head and grabs her cheeks to meet her eyes. “Hey. Look at me. Josie, you’re not a monster. You’re not them.”

Josie cries while her eyes drown in blue. 

“Stop trying to save me. Please.”

“Never.” 

Hope grabs her hand and forces her to keep running. Meanwhile peacekeepers are all behind them and they keep shooting. 

“Go ahead! Go! We’ll cover for you!” Camille says while her and Davina keep shooting back and running backwards.

Suddenly some lights on the ceiling start spitting fire and it becomes even more difficult to run trying to be careful not to walk under the ones that could suddenly spit fire.

So they run moving from left to the right and right to the left. 

But suddenly Josh steps under one of them and he is instantly set on fire.

“No! Josh!” Aiden screams in shock. 

“Aiden he’s gone! He’s gone. Don’t stop!” Finnick yells.

Meanwhile Hope is still holding Josie’s hand and keeping her close to her while the peacekeepers are still on them. 

“Up those stairs!” Lizzie points and starts climbing.

As everyone are finally out and back on the street, Camille closes the manhole.

“We can’t stay here. Come with me, I know a place.” Finnick says. 

As they walk cautiously in the streets, they see screens with pictures of them and the sign _“Wanted”._

“From dead to wanted. Nice.” Lizzie says. 

“We’re here.” Finnick says. 

He knocks at the door and after a few seconds a woman in a hood opens it and lets them in.

Hope glances at the woman who she recognizes from the first games. 

“Venia, do you remember me?” Finnick asks.

“Of course I remember you, how can I forget.” She smiles at him and then looks at the others in the room.

“We need a place to hide.” 

“Come with me.”

She opens a trap door on the floor and gestures them to go down. 

“Be quiet down there.” She says after all of them are in.

Then she closes it upon their heads.

Hope sat down bringing her hands on her mouth. She had her gaze fixed on the floor and tears in her eyes. 

“Hope?” Lizzie kneels down in front of her placing a hand on her knee. “Hey. It’s not your fault.” 

“He..he’s dead, Lizzie. Landon’s dead. Josh is dead.” She cries and meets Lizzie’s gaze. Then she looks at Davina and Aiden who are also crying silently.

“I’m so..so sorry.” She says with a broken voice.

“We all knew the risks Hope. But we’re all fighting for the same cause. Your cause is also our cause. Mikael took everything from you, but he ruined our lives too in other ways.” Camille says.

“But you shouldn’t be doing this. I should be doing this alone. All of these deaths...they’re on me.”

“They’re not.” Josie steps in capturing Hope’s attention. “Our lives belong to him. Just like our deaths. It’s always been like that. But if you kill him..all those deaths will mean something.” She pauses. “Pedro. Maya. Liz. My parents. Rafael. Landon. Josh. You can do justice for each one of them.” 

If someone else had told her this, she probably would’ve brushed it off and still blamed herself. But coming from Josie, it was different. 

Josie went through hell because of her and she still believed in her. She believed Hope could end the circle of violence Mikael had started. And selfishly, Hope only cared about the fact that it was Josie who believed in her now. This was probably everything she needed but she couldn’t have until now.

But now Josie was there. And for the first time in a long time, she seemed like herself. And suddenly Hope’s heart felt whole again.

“We should rest before we go out there again.” Finnick says breaking the silence. 

Suddenly a solemn music started playing and the screen in the basement lit up to show Mikael broadcasting.

“To all capitol citizens, I am announcing a mandatory evacuation. I am promising you shelter and sanctuary. All refugees, come to my home. And there you will be provided with food, medicine, safety for your children, and you will have my solemn oath to protect you until my dying breath.” 

The screen turns off. 

“So he’s still in his mansion?” Hope asks.

“Yes. I recognize the room.” Josie says.

“It’s about five blocks from here.” Davina says.

“I think me and Hope should do this part. You all stay here until it’s safe for you to come out.” Finnick proposes.

“I agree.” Hope says.

“Well I don’t.” Lizzie frowns. “You two can’t be out there outnumbered.” 

“We’ve been outnumbered until now.” Hope points out.

“It’s different. Together we have more chance. We-“

“Are you going soft on me, Lizzie?” Hope mocks her smiling weakly.

The blonde rolls her eyes. “For the last time. If I get so worried about you is only because I don’t want my sister to fall apart if you die.” 

Suddenly Hope’s gaze moves on Josie who was also looking at her, but as she meets Hope’s gaze she looks away awkwardly. Hope’s smile suddenly disappears. 

They all fall asleep after a while. Luckily in there no one had to stay on watch for the first time. 

Hope couldn’t really sleep though. She kept waking up and passing out but she was too agitated to let herself fall asleep.  
She kept feeling in danger. Like something could happen at any moment. It’s called hyper vigilance, her aunt Keelin explained this to her when she came back from the first games.

Suddenly she heard Josie struggling in her sleep. She kept wiggling in her sleep, until she opened her eyes and looked around her scared. Her eyes met Hope’s who was watching her from the other side of the room. 

She lies back down and takes a deep breath.

“Did you have a nightmare?” Hope asks in a soft voice.

Josie only nods while she tries to slow down her breathing.

Hope gets up and walks towards the brunette. She lies down on her right side next to Josie, facing her. 

Josie looks at her in shock. 

“You shouldn’t be this close to me.” Josie whispers.

“Why?” Hope whispers while her fingers wonder on Josie’s chin and then her cheek. 

Josie closes her eyes for a moment, finding comfort from the familiar touch. Then she opens her eyes again. “I don’t want to hurt you.” 

“You won’t.”

They stay in silence for a while, just enjoying each other’s closeness.

“Hope?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t want you to go.” 

Hope keeps staring at her without saying anything. Then Josie continues.

“The last time we were apart, Mikael got me. I..I don’t want him to get to you. I can’t lose you again.” She starts crying.

Hope catches a tear running down her cheek and wipes it off with a finger. “You won’t lose me. I promise.” She says softly.

“You can’t promise that.” 

Hope knew she couldn’t. But she also knew she was going to do the impossible to come back to Josie. 

She decided not to talk and close the distance between them and pressed her lips against Josie’s. It was a gentle and chaste kiss, but both of them felt as if that fire they hadn’t felt in a long time was back to burn inside them. 

Josie was surprised by Hope’s gesture, not because of the kiss itself. They had already kissed before. She was surprised because Hope didn’t seem afraid of her. 

“Why did you do that?” Josie asked.

“I’ve wanted to do it since the moment I read your letter.”

Josie’s eyes lit up in realization. “How..”

“Lizzie found it and gave it to me.”

Josie nervously broke eye contact and sighed. 

“I could never let you die, you know that right? I need you just as much as I need breathing.” She says softly, almost getting emotional.

Brown meets blue again. 

“Even after everything that happened?” 

Hope caresses her cheek and smiles softly. “Even more.” 

For the first time Josie smiles back, which only makes Hope smile more. 

“Would you stay with me until I fall asleep?” Josie asks in a sleepy voice. 

“Always.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so...apparently no one trusts me enough to believe i can also change the story and make deaths useful??? come on 😂
> 
> i would have never killed finnick i love him too much. plus..this made sense.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well i hope you don’t hate me too much now

“Venia, thank you for everything you’ve done.” Finnick says standing next to the door. 

“Please be careful out there. Try to mix with the citizens of the Capitol. The clothes I lent you should do the trick.” She looks at Hope and Finnick with a kind smile.

“All right, we should go.” Finnick says. 

Hope meets Camille and Davina’s gazes, who only smile and nod as to let her know it’s going to work. And she really hopes so. 

Then she looks at Lizzie who’s glancing at her with her usual annoyed look. Hope smiles.

“What?”

“I didn’t say this, but I really need you to stay alive. Not for Josie, but because I care.” 

She smiles again and closes Lizzie into a tight embrace. “You’ve gone so soft on me.” 

Lizzie smiles. “Yeah. Boo-ho. Shame on me.” 

Hope releases her and then meets Josie’s gaze who was hiding in the corner of the room. She walks closer to face her.

“Stay alive.” Josie tells her.

“And you..” She taps her forehead with a finger. “Don’t lose it while I’m gone. Please.” 

Josie smiles. “I’ll try my best.” 

Hope smiles back and then puts a hand in the pocket of her jacket, pulling out a note and handing it to Josie.

“What’s this?” Josie frowns.

“Everything I couldn’t say to you before.” 

Josie looks at Hope who is clearly nervous about this. She tries to avoid Josie’s gaze, but Josie only feels the need to kiss the girl in front of her. And she does.

She cupped Hope’s cheeks in her hands and crashed their lips together in a deep and sweet kiss. Josie wanted to give her that. The sweetness and the love she couldn’t give to her all this time. 

But from Hope’s side, the kiss felt like a prayer that had finally been answered. It was desperate. It felt urgent and needed. It felt like all she needed to fix her broken heart. To feel whole again. 

When Hope finally broke the kiss was only to catch air. Their foreheads pressed together while Hope kept caressing Josie’s face with her eyes closed. 

“Hope..you have to go.” Josie whispers out of breath.

“Just five more minutes. I need five more minutes.” She whispers. 

Luckily, Finnick gives them that, but after five minutes it was finally time to go. 

“Hope, are you ready?” 

“Yes.” 

She gives one last glance at Josie and then she walks out the door. 

“By order of president Mikaelson, all residents must proceed to the presidential estate. Please, continue to move forward in a calm and orderly fashion. Additional food, medicine and clothing will be provided upon arrival.” The speaker on the road kept repeating the same thing.

As they walked five blocks they reached the crowd of citizens and mixed amongst them with their hoodies on. 

“Keep walking.” 

Hope sees Peacekeepers all around them, but she tries to keep her gaze low. 

She also notices a little girl looking at her, as if she realized it was her. The Hope Mikaelson. She tries to hide her face and stay calm. 

But suddenly she notices Peacekeepers in the crowd, checking on every person who was approaching to the gates. They could never get away with this. They will catch them eventually.

“Finnick.” 

Finnick doesn’t need her to say more because he could see them too. He turns around and notices more of them. 

They keep walking getting ready for the worst. They couldn’t do anything else. 

Suddenly an explosion hit the adjacent building where some Peacekeepers were. Then there were more explosions. 

Finnick throws himself on top of Hope and get down on the ground while chaos raises around them. 

“It’s the rebels!” 

“The rebels are attacking!” 

“Run! Run!” 

People kept screaming and running in every direction to find some sort of escape, while many others just run towards the gate hoping they would open it and save them all. 

“Bring your children forward. The gates will open momentarily.” The speaker voice said. “Please keep calm.” 

The only thing they could see were desperate parents passing their children to the peacekeepers who were gathering them at the gates. 

“They will never let us in like this.” Hope says looking at the chaos around her.

Suddenly an aircraft flies above their heads and small parachutes slowly fly down with small gifts. 

Hope glances at the sky in confusion.

“It’s the capitol! The capitol is helping us!” People say.

“They’re not gifts.” Finnick says frightened while he looks at the sky. 

Hope looks at him. “What?” 

“Hope get down!” He covers her again while six bombs explode in the middle of the crowd. 

When Hope looks around her again she only sees half of the people there were before. Everyone else was injured or dead. 

She keeps walking towards the gate and suddenly sees her aunt down on her knees helping a woman.

“Aunt Keelin?!” 

Keelin meets Hope’s terrified gaze.

“Hope? You’re here.” 

“No no no..you can’t be here. You have to-“

Suddenly another bomb goes off and Hope is thrown ten feet away from where she stands. 

She feels whistling in her ears, her headache hitting harder than ever. She squeezed her eyes closed and tried to breathe slowly, but she felt her lungs paralyzed.

Suddenly someone was shaking her and she felt two hands on her cheeks.

“Hope! Get up. We have to move.” 

She opens her eyes and looks at Finnick in horror, she grabs his wrists and then stands up looking around her.

“What? What’s wrong?” Finnick asks.

“My aunt..” She kept gasping for air.

Then she looked where she last saw her aunt and froze on the spot. She let out a moan of pain and brought a hand to her mouth while she started sobbing. 

“Hope..” 

“No...” She mumbles. Finnick places a hand on her arm but she aggressively removes it while she walks ahead. “No!” She screams with sadness, pain, desperation all together. She had lost another member of her family. The woman who raised her. 

Suddenly Hope’s pain was replaced with anger. She walked determined towards the gates. 

Finnick followed her and as they arrived in front of two peacekeepers they took the guns from them and shot them. They went ahead and shot at every Peacekeeper they found on their way. 

Suddenly another bomb exploded right in front of Hope, making her fall on her back while her clothes start burning on her. This time she can’t get up. She feels her body letting go. She can’t do nothing more. 

She thinks of Josie. She wants to tell her she’s sorry. Then she closes her eyes.

-

Josie sits in a corner of the room and takes out Hope’s note. 

_For Josie._

She opens the note and starts reading. 

_Dear Josie,_

_if you’re reading this, it means you’re safe and not dead like you hoped you would be. I hate myself for putting you in danger. I hate myself even more for not telling you how I felt about you from the start. I used to get so nervous around you. I used to fear talking to you or even looking at you because of how your closeness made me feel._

_Now you’re not here and I wish I could be nervous and close to you._

_I miss how you held me close to you whenever I had a nightmare, as if just holding me that way could protect me from every bad thing. Probably I was never really safe, but you made me feel so even in the most dangerous moments._

_I don’t know if you’ll ever read this, but I feel like I need to write down everything I can’t tell you now. Everything that I probably won’t be able to say, because I don’t know if I’ll see you again._

_You probably don’t know this, but when I kissed you in that cave during the first games, that was my first kiss. And it was the first time I actually felt stirring inside my chest. Warm and curious.  
It’s funny to think about how I was in denial for so long, while I was the one making the first move and kiss you.  
And I tried to avoid you for so long, tried not to talk to you, but somehow I still caught feelings for you. I’m just sorry I never said the words out loud to you._

_That I love you. And I would risk my life for you a hundred times more if I had to. You might think you don’t deserve it, or ask yourself what’s the point of constantly trying to keep you alive._

_Well, Josie. I don’t have many reasons for that. I can just tell you that your only existence is enough to think there’s still something good left in this world for me. And I really need that good in my life. You._

_This is probably where the problem is. The fact that I love you so much, that my nightmares now are about losing you. And I keep losing you, over and over again. And I just wish you were here so I wouldn’t have to say these things to a piece of paper, which I feel is mocking me for crying like a baby while I’m writing this down._

_I went back to our home. Your home. I found my coat in your closet. I took it with me because it smells like you. And I need a little bit of you with me right now._

_I guess all I mean to say is...I’m sorry, and I love you. I’m sorry it took so long for me to realize. I’m sorry I pushed you away so many times and made you think I didn’t care as much as you did._

_Because the truth is, Josie, I would marry you in a heartbeat._

_You were my first kiss and my first love. Honestly I like to think about you as the only person I’ll ever love. So I hope I can be that for you too._

_So please, Josie. Be alive the next time we see each other. Because I can’t think of a life without you in it._

_Forever yours,_  
Hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...do you still hate me? 👀
> 
> By the way, let’s state a fact. Finnick hands down makes a better Gale than Gale and Landon and i think we can all agree on that. Finnick Odair supremacy. 
> 
> Also, Hope Mikaelson putting her feelings on paper?? Let’s acknowledge the growth 😂


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 🔥🥰

Hope slowly opens her eyes, founding herself lying in a hospital bed again.  
Her mind quickly focus on everything that happened and how she got there. 

She meets Finn’s and Freya’s relieved gaze. 

“Aunt Freya?” 

“Hey.” She smiles and brings Hope’s hand to her lips to kiss her. “You’re okay.” 

Hope suddenly feels the sadness overcome her. “Aunt Keelin...” She cries.

Freya tries to stay in control, but the pain was palpable from her broken voice. “We’re gonna be okay Hope.”

“Where’s Nik? How is he?” 

“He’s..he needs time.” 

“I have to see him.” She tries to sit and get down but Finn stops her.

“I need you to lie back. Your sutures are still fresh.”

“What..what happened?” She asked confused, not really remembering what happened to her.

“Fight was over after the capitol dropped those bombs to defend the palace. The rebels walked right in. It was..it was over after that.” 

“What about Finnick?” 

“He’s alive. He’s okay. Doesn’t even have a scratch.”

Hope closed her eyes and tried to focus on the next thing she had to do: kill Mikael. 

-

“Hope, I want you to know I’m on board for anything you’re planning on doing. But please, just don’t do it now.” Katherine begs her. 

“Who am I meeting in here again?” Hope asks confused. 

“You’ll see. Now go in.” She only says.

Hope enters the garden that was surveyed by two guards and walks around staring at the place. 

“I was hoping they would bring you to me.” Mikael says while walking out out the bushes. 

Hope looks at him with her eyes wide open, her anger starting to rise. He takes a white rose from the bushes and plays with it in his hands.

“We should discuss some things. But I have a feeling your visit will be brief, so first things first. I wanted to tell you how very sorry I am about your aunt.” 

“Save it.” She says with anger. “You couldn’t care less about who dies. Let alone if that someone is my family.” 

“Oh well, you might be right. I don’t wanna lie to you. But you may want to reconsider who your real enemy is now.” 

“My enemy was always you. From the beginning. It all started when you killed my family and after you took Josie you just signed your death sentence.” 

“So now you’re here to collect my ashes?” He laughs amused, then he coughs and spits blood.

“I guess time is catching up with you huh?” 

He smiles again, cleaning his mouth with a napkin. “Again, Hope..I’m not your enemy. Not anymore.”

“I wish I could believe you.”

“Do you really think I gave the order to release those bombs? We all know I don’t have remorse for killing. But I kill for specific reasons. Why would I kill citizens and children of the Capitol just to get to you or your family?” 

Hope kept listening to him, waiting for him to say what he meant.

“The idea that I was bombing our own helpless children to hold back the rebels...  
It turned the last of my guards against me. It was a really smart move from Coin’s part.”

Suddenly every piece of the puzzle came together in Hope’s head. She remembered what Rafael told her. She realized that Dahlia was just as bad as Mikael.

“She let the capitol and the districts destroy one another. Then she stepped in to take power with 13's arsenal. And now she intends to take my place.” 

“A tyrant for a tyrant. What a shocking turn of events.” Hope says with a hint of devil in her eyes. 

\- 

Hope walked into a room with a big round table where President Coin was expecting her. 

“What’s this?” She asks her.

“The remaining Victors. Come join us please.” Dahlia asks her pointing her the seat next to Josie. 

She’s the first person she really notices in that room and suddenly her chest feels lighter. 

She sits down and glances at everyone in the room. Dorian, Finnick, Jade and Damon. 

“I have invited you all here for several reasons, but first, I have an announcement.” She pauses. “I have taken the burden and the honor of declaring myself interim president of panem.” 

_The burden?_

_Sure._

“Interim? Exactly how long is that interim?” Damon asks.

“We have no way of knowing for certain.  
But it's clear that people are far too emotional right now to make a rational decision.” She pauses. “But I have called you here for a far more important vote. A symbolic vote. This afternoon, we will execute Mikael.” She says meeting Hope’s eyes.

“His servants will meet the same fate. But the danger is that once we begin, the rebels will not stop calling for justice. So I offer an alternative plan, which majority of you have to approve. No one abstains.” 

“Let’s hear it.” Damon says.

“In lieu of these barbaric executions, we hold a symbolic hunger games.”

“What?!” Josie suddenly bursts out.

“You want to condamn capitol’s children to death now?” Finnick asks.

“You’re joking.” Damon says.

“Not in the slightest. It balances the need for revenge with the least loss of human life.”

Hope was trying not to lose control as her usual. She couldn’t make a scene, not this time. She kept holding tight her hand into a fist while her gaze was fixed on Dahlia, the only thought in her mind was killing her along with Mikael for causing her aunt’s death. 

Suddenly she feels a hand slip into her lap and break her fist to intertwine their fingers together. It was Josie. Hope didn’t look at her but just reacted by holding her hand tightly. And finally released a breath she had been holding for too long.

“No.” Finnick says.

“Absolutely not.” Dorian confirms.

“This is crazy.” Damon says. 

“I think it’s more than fair. I say yes.” Jade answers.

“You guys, this way of thinking is what started these uprisings. We are not changing things by doing the same game he used to play.” Josie said trying to get them to reason.

“Hope, Damon, it’s up to you.” Dahlia says. 

“I vote yes. But I get to kill Mikael.” 

Josie looks at her in shock but Hope doesn’t move her gaze from the President, instead she just squeezes Josie’s hand hoping she would understand what she was doing. Apparently she does.

“O..okay then. Yes.” Josie says forcefully.

“Well, we’re the majority already. So it’s settled. We'll announce the games tonight, after the execution.”

\- 

Hope walks among the crowd and goes towards the centre of the square where Mikael is chained ready to be executed.  
Everyone are there to witness it. Meanwhile Dahlia is on the high walls of the building so that everyone can see her.

“Welcome to the new Panem. Today, on the Avenue of the tributes, all of Panem, a free panem, will watch more than a mere spectacle. Today, the greatest friend to the revolution will fire the shot to end all wars. May her arrow signify the end of tyranny and the beginning of a new era.” She says looking down at Hope.

Hope points the arrow at Mikael who seems nothing but unimpressed, instead he kept smiling at her. She freezes like that for a few moments, still aiming at Mikael, until she raises the bow and points above his head, right into Dahlia’s chest. 

She falls from a few meters high down the walls and crashes on the ground, while a pool of blood widens on the floor. 

While the entire Panem is shocked and is about to react and Mikael’s laugh fills her ears, a fire arrow crosses right in front of Hope and goes through Mikael’s chest, as he is instantly set on fire and his screams fill the air.  
Suddenly the rebels seem pleased again. And Hope is still confused but her gaze is fixed on Mikael’s burning body in front of her.

She turns around and sees Josie with a bow in her hand, who moves her angry gaze from Mikael to Hope. 

“Jo..what did you do?” 

“Justice. For your family. And every other life he took.” 

The rebels kept cheering but the situation was now out of control. 

“You two need to come with me right now.” Damon grabs them and takes them away from the chaos. 

He takes them inside the mansion again and tells them to stay put while he goes to talk to Finn. 

They sit on the stairs of the entrance and keep quiet for a while. 

“I guess we both can’t stop causing problems huh?” Hope says keeping her gaze down. Meanwhile Josie is staring at her with a soft smile on her face.

“I read your letter.” 

Hope instantly raises her gaze to look at Josie. Suddenly she feels nervous.

“You did?”

“Yeah.” 

“Oh..okay. Good.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me what I think about it?” Josie says sitting one stair closer to Hope to face her.

“Um..what do you think?” 

“I think you’ve been pretty dumb until now, but that’s a fact.”

Hope frowns. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” 

“Well...okay.” 

Hope starts biting her inner cheek and tapping her foot on the floor, which only makes Josie chuckle.

“What?” Hope frowns.

“You’re getting nervous.” 

“I’m not getting nervous.” She insists.

“You are. And you still can’t tell me what it is you want to say out loud.” Josie says smiling amused.

“Well, did you?” Hope points out.

“Do I have to?” 

“I..I don’t know.”

“Fine. I love you, Hope Mikaelson. There, I said it. Did you hear that? I love you.” Josie says leaning forward and closer to her. 

Hope’s heart suddenly exploded in her chest. She felt the air missing and she really was in no position to talk after that. Josie had just put her in the corner and there was no escape from that. Not that she really wanted to. 

But if she didn’t answer that, Josie would probably shoot the next arrow right through her head. Figuratively speaking. Maybe.

_When did she even learn to shoot that good anyway?_

“I can’t believe I fell in love with a coward.” 

Hope opens her mouth feeling offended. “Says...the other coward.” 

“At least I said it now. You’re the only coward left.” She smiles getting closer to her. 

“I’m not-“ 

“Then fucking say it.” Josie whispers a few inches from her face. 

Hope swallows hard. Her eyes get lost between Josie’s eyes and lips. And she can’t form a proper sentence in her head.

“Hope?” Josie calls her attention. 

Hope shakes her head and tries to focus. “Sorry, I..I got distracted.”

Josie chuckles. “Distracted?”

“You...make it so difficult.” She says closing her eyes for a moment.

“I’m not making it difficult. You are. You already wrote down what you should be saying out loud. Just say it.” 

“It’s not that simple you know. You should try having yourself in front of you.”

“Oh please.” She laughs. 

Hope only keeps staring at her in silence. Josie’s face softens again. 

“Say it.” She whispers. 

“You have really beautiful eyes.”

Josie rolls her eyes, but still smiling. “Hope.”

“What?”

“You’re missing the point again.” 

“Oh don’t lecture me n-“

“I’m not doing any-“

“Yes you are. Plus you literally did the same th-“

“Again?! I just told you. You can’t keep it to yourself any-“

“Fine! I love you! God. I didn’t know you could be so-“

“Annoying?” Josie points out looking at her in adoration. 

“Yes!” Hope bursts out. Then she sighs softly and stops to stare at the brunette in front of her, who keeps looking at her mesmerized. Hope suddenly wants to scream how beautiful she is.

“But I love you. I..love you, so much. And you’re here.”

“I’m here.” Josie says softly.

“And you’re okay. And I love you.” 

Josie chuckles and closes the distance in a sweet but brief kiss. “I think you’re forgetting something.”

“Do I really have to say everything?” Hope pleads.

“Everything.” Josie says brushing their lips together. 

Hope takes a deep breath and backs away. 

“Fine. You mean the fact that you were my first kiss?”

“Um no, the other thing.”

“That you’re my first love?” 

“The _other_ thing.” Josie keeps smiling amused at the sight of Hope’s frustration.

Hope looks at her with a pout. But then she tries to hide a smile. 

“I’d marry you in a heartbeat, it’s true.”

“So would I.” Josie smiles softly.

“Then marry me. Please?” 

“Hope Mikaelson, are you begging me to marry you?” 

“Josie!” She hits her hand making her burst into laughter.

“Of course I’ll marry you.”

“Did I just hear _marry_ and _you_ in the same sentence?” Damon says walking in out of nowhere.

“I don’t know. How drunk are you?” Hope asks.

“You two, after all this time, are still a pain in my ass. Luckily there will be no consequences for what you did since you actually helped clean the system from tyrants.”

“So what now?” 

“You go home. Both of you.” 

They share a look and then they look back at Damon. “Really?” 

“Yes. Really. So why don’t you take your little asses out of here and finally free me from this misery?”

Suddenly Damon finds himself with both of them hugging him at the same time. To his surprise, he actually enjoyed the gesture, since he learned to care about the two of them, despite the fact that he tried to deny it. He returned the hug.

Then it was time to let them go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so hope is still dumb and in love. some things never change.
> 
> fun fact: josie actually wanted revenge mostly for hope, not even for herself. she just loves that girl to death.


	29. Epilogue

Hope woke up from her nap which turned out to be not so refreshing after all. She felt even more tired and before, but despite that she got up and went to look for Nik in the kitchen. 

“Good afternoon to you.” Nik says.

“Did I sleep that long?” 

“Yeah.” He keeps mixing the herbs and then looks at Hope. “Can I ask you something?” 

“Sure, anything.” She says holding the blanket around her. 

“Mom is outside. She’s..she’s out of control. And I don’t know what to do.” 

Hope instantly walks out of the house and sees Freya in the distance throwing away Keelin’s clothes and other belongings. She keeps moving fast and breathing heavily while she cries silently. 

“Aunt Freya?” 

She walks down the stairs towards Freya’s direction who was still lost in her thoughts and despair. 

“Aunt Freya stop!” Hope grabs her arm to face a very upset and broken Freya. 

She had never seen her like that. Freya was always the strongest. The one that kept it all together despite everything. Hope thinks that if she’s the person she is today is because of her. 

But she can imagine what she must be feeling right now. The realization that she’s lost the woman she loved. Hope had that feeling lots of times every time she thought she had lost Josie. Although it lasted only a few moments, she always believed that she could never survive that kind of pain. 

“Aunt Freya please, don’t do this.” Hope pleads her. 

“She’s gone, Hope. We don’t need these things. It’s just...this is just-“ She keeps collecting clothes and pictures frames all together. “garbage. I can’t stand the sight of it.” 

“I know, I get it. But please think about Nik.”

“She’s gone! Okay? She’s dead! She’s not here anymore! I don’t need the constant reminder that she is not here!” She says screaming every word.

Hope tries to keep her from shaking and closes the distance bringing her into a hug, while Freya finally starts sobbing and softens into the hug. 

“We’ll get through this, okay?” Hope says caressing her back, while trying to keep herself from breaking down too. “We always do.” 

In the next few days, Hope and Freya had to hold in their arms a crying Nik almost every night, so at some point they started sleeping together in the same bed. 

Hope didn’t know how she was managing to take care of both her aunt and Nik without breaking down. She still hadn’t allowed herself to cry, to feel. She knew it was only a matter of time before she would. 

One day she decides to go to the garden first thing in the morning, before Nik or Freya could wake up. She needed to do this by herself. 

They had planted a tree for Keelin right next the other five of her family. She sits down Keelin’s tree and stays there in silence for hours, unable to say anything, even if she wanted to. 

Hope gets lost in looking at the flowers placed all around the tree. She notices a few sunlight flowers and frowns, thinking that sunlight flowers didn’t grow there in the District. She only saw that in the Capitol once. And...Josie’s porch. 

She suddenly turns around and as first thing she sees Josie looking at her from the distance. It was impossible for the eye not to catch her yellow shirt. Hope gets up and walks towards her. 

“When did you come back?” She asks surprised.

“Lizzie decided to come home earlier after all. She said something like needing to plan a wedding.” She says smiling.

Hope smiles weakly but her smile instantly vanishes. But Josie knows her too well.

“Hey, how are you?” She asks softly while placing a hand on Hope’s arm.

Hope forces a smile but then she feels like she can’t keep the tears from falling anymore, especially if Josie looked at her that way. She instantly starts sobbing and throws herself in Josie’s arms, who doesn’t hesitate a moment to hold her tight. 

“It’s okay..I’m here now. I’ve got you.”

-

_Dear Hope and Josie,_

_you’ll be happy to hear that my son is healthy and well, and me and Annie are over the moon. This little guy brought us so much joy, that I didn’t think it was possible to have after all we’ve been through._

_I used to believe there couldn’t be a life that was filled only with good things, but now I do. I have two._

_I hope Nik and your aunt are doing okay, and that your wedding invitation doesn’t get lost in the mail. I saved your ass many times after all._

_But all jokes aside, I’m very glad I know you two. And I wish you all the happiness in the world after so much suffering. You both deserve it._

_Until we meet again,_

_Finnick, Annie and baby Lucas._

-

It was a sunny day during fall. The lake was brighter than Hope has ever seen.  
The air was chilly but she could still feel the warmth of the sunlight. But most of all, she felt the warmth of Josie’s touch, holding her hands, while both of them were standing in front of each other in their wedding dresses. 

It was intimate. Only the closest to them were there to witness that moment. No cameras, no outsiders. Only the people who had been with them from the beginning. 

“From this day and forth, I promise to keep doing what I’ve always done. To protect you and love you until my last breath. As someone wise once said, I didn’t think I could have a life filled with only good things, but now I have. And I can only feel lucky and honored to be loved by such a great and kind heart like yours. My heart lies with you, Josie. And this would be the moment I declare myself yours. Always and Forever.” 

Josie smiles through the tears and squeezes Hope’s hands tightly, then she clears her throat.

“Hope, from this day and forth, I will think of myself as the luckiest person in this world. I never doubted for a second of your strength and your good heart. And I’m glad I got to see all the shades of the beauty you have inside. I vow to always fight for you. To always be by your side whenever you need me. To always hold you close to me. To never lose you again. And I’m yours, truly. Always and Forever.” 

-

**5 years later.**

Hope was sitting on the blanket under the three, reading a book in the quiet of the woods. Only the birds singing and the leaves falling all around her, covering the blanket with warm colors. 

Suddenly she hears a small cry and she puts her book to the side to look at the cause of her distraction laying on her arm and her lap. 

“Hey. Shh. What’s wrong? Did mom bore you with this book?” She smiles while fixing the blanket around the baby in her arms, cradling her sweetly. 

“Did I tell you about when your mom fell into the lake after I told her I was pregnant with you?” Hope chuckles. “She claims she slipped. What do you think?” She asks softly.

“What lies are you telling her now?” Josie says coming back from the lake carrying someone else in her arms.

“Nothing. I think she had a nightmare.” 

“Do you want me to take her?” 

“Yeah maybe. My arm is a little sore.” She says while Josie sits down next to her to take the baby in her lap.

“Hi sweetie. What’s wrong? Was it mommy that scared you? She can be scary sometimes.” She says while cradling the baby in her arms.

“Don’t listen to her Hayley, she just wants you on her side.” Hope says.

Josie giggles. “Why would I want her on my side?”

“Because you tried to do the same thing with Ellie and it didn’t work.” 

“That is so not true.” 

“Ellie? Come here baby.” She runs towards Hope and sits on her lap. “Is it true that mommy tries to make me look mean?” 

“Well, she does say you’re a b-word sometimes.” 

Hope widens her eyes. “She says what?!” Then she turns to look at Josie. “Is that what you teach to a five years old?”

Josie laughs amused. “I never said the word. She doesn’t really know what I mean to say.” 

“Well it certainly doesn’t sound good! Does it?” Hope asks turning her face to Ellie.

“I think mommy just likes to mock you, mom.”

“When is she ever not mocking me?” She asks rhetorically. 

“Be quiet you two, I’m trying to put her to sleep.” Josie whispers.

Meanwhile Ellie gets comfortable in Hope’s lap and rests her head on her chest. “Mom, can you sing something? I want to take a nap.” 

“I could use a nap myself.” Hope says abandoning her back to the tree. 

“I can’t believe my job is to put both of my daughters plus my wife to sleep.” Josie says amused. 

“I love you.” Hope says softly with her head turned to Josie’s side. 

Josie turns to look at her and places a sweet kiss on her lips before turning her attention back to Hayley. 

As Josie started singing, Hope could not think of closing her eyes anymore. She wanted to print the moment in her mind as much as she could. She kept holding Ellie in her arms, who was slowly falling asleep, while her eyes were focused on Josie who was singing to Hayley. A soft smile pressed on her lips.

Hope didn’t know it could be possible to smile so much and be this happy. Before the second games she would have never thought she could live the life of a victor. But after everything, if they could call what they have a win, then that was the life they were living. And it was the only reward that mattered. 

————————————————————————-

**Hope kept her promise to take Josie to the woods during fall season. Josie was the one that thought they could get married by the lake, always during fall season.**

**Josie took Hope’s last name.**

**Ellie’s name was chosen in honor of Liz.**

**Finnick and Annie’s baby name is Lucas Andrea, chosen in honor of both Hope and Josie, who became an important part of Finnick’s life.**

**Damon and Katherine were still living at the capitol.**

**The new elected President was former Commander Paylor.**

**Lizzie had been promoted to a capitan in district 2, but she still visited her sister and nieces regularly.**

**Freya and Nik slowly recovered. And Nik turned out to be an excellent doctor, just like his mother was.**

**There never was such thing as The Hunger Games anymore.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank so much for another ride together with this story. i have to admit it was my favorite to write until now and i’m feeling a lot of emotions right now 🥺 
> 
> i can’t even begin to tell you all how thankful i am for all your nice words and comments. even if i don’t usually answer i read each one of you. so thank you, thank you, thank you. 
> 
> i hope you are happy with how the ending turned out. i also hope i’ll be back for one more. we have to survive the next couple of months somehow...right? 😂 
> 
> I love you guys. Stay safe. <3


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